When does the time change? Texas lawmakers hope to get rid of daylight saving time in 2025

Yahoo

11-02-2025

The practice of daylight saving time has made its way back to debates among Texas lawmakers. After failing in the 2023 legislative session, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, has proposed a bill that would allow the state to remain in standard time all year as allowed by the Uniform Time Act of 1966. This differs from previous attempts, which have generally suggested states remain in daylight saving time — an act barred by federal law.
"The twice-a-year clock change is disruptive and unnecessary," Zaffirini said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. "Studies have linked these shifts to increased traffic accidents, negative health effects, and decreased productivity."
In 2022, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, made such a proposal with the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023. Although the Senate passed it, the bill stalled in the House.
"It's time to lock the clock and stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching our clocks back and forth," Rubio said toward the end of last year.
The opposite happened in the 2023 Texas legislative session, in which Zaffirini and Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, proposed the state's permanent shift to daylight saving time. House Bill 1422 earned bipartisan support in the House but stalled in the Senate. Metcalf has filed a similar bill this year.
"Texas doesn't need to wait for Washington," Metcalf said in a news release. "By passing HB 1393, we'll demonstrate leadership and send a strong message that Texans are ready to move forward."
If Zaffirini's Senate Bill 64 is passed and Congress reverses previous rulings against the permanent adoption of daylight saving time, Texas voters could decide which time zone they would prefer to implement year-round.
All but two U.S. states observe daylight saving time. Some states want to make it permanent, while others have moved to make standard time permanent.
Experts say that time changes are detrimental to health and safety, but they agree that the answer isn't permanent DST.
"The medical and scientific communities are unified... that permanent standard time is better for human health," said Erik Herzog, a professor of biology and neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis and the former president of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms.
Most Americans would prefer to do away with time changes. About 43% want year-round standard time, 32% want permanent daylight saving time and 25% want to stick with the status quo, an October 2021 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found. For now and in the near future, most Americans will keep going through the jarring time changes that come around twice a year.
Hawaii and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) remain in standard time and never experience time changes.
Read more: Could daylight saving time ever be permanent? Where it stands in the states
Daylight saving time is set to begin on Sunday, March 9, 2025. In the early hours, time will jump forward by one hour from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. This marks the shift to local Daylight Saving Time (DST).
Many devices, such as phones and computers, will automatically change to DST, but non-smart devices, such as microwaves and some car radios, as well as any clock with hands, will likely need to be changed manually.
The end of daylight saving time means there will be more light in the morning and it will get dark earlier in the evening. Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier on Sunday, Nov. 3, than they were on Saturday, Nov. 2.
For most Americans, except those in Arizona, Hawaii, and a handful of other places, the end of daylight saving time means an extra hour of sleep on Nov. 5. It also helps the country accommodate for more daylight in the mornings in preparation for winter.
Daylight saving time (DST) claims a variety of other names: daylight savings time, daylight time, summer time (not to be confused with summertime). It refers to the practice of setting clocks forward by one hour during the warmer months of the year and then setting them back one hour in the fall.
One way to remember the pattern: "spring forward, fall back."
The idea dates back to World War I, although some credit Benjamin Franklin for daylight saving time due to a satirical letter he wrote in 1784 stating: "Every morning, as soon as the sun rises, let all the bells in every church be set ringing: and if that is not sufficient, let cannon be fired in every street to wake the sluggards effectually."
To maximize resources for the war, Germany and Austria implemented the first daylight saving time in 1916. The U.S. did the same in 1918. An outdated idea, some argue.
The general idea of daylight saving time is to maximize the use of natural daylight, according to the Almanac. This always occurs around the summer months. As the earth moves around the sun and is tilted on its axis, certain parts of the world experience longer days during certain months. For those in the northern hemisphere, like the U.S., these longer days run from March to November, with June to August seeing the longest days.
For those in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia, the seasons are reversed: June through August mark winter months and are, therefore, the shortest of the year.
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In recent years, Congress has faced the opportunity to stop changing clocks. In 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, however the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass it and President Joe Biden did not sign it.
In December, then-President-elect Donald Trump said he aims to put an end to daylight saving time and make standard time year-round.
"The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't!" Trump wrote on social media site Truth Social. "Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation."
Winter officially ends with the first day of spring on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
The longest day of 2025, also known as the summer solstice, is Friday, June 20. Central Texas will get around 14 hours of daylight.
On the flip side, 2025's winter solstice — the shortest day of the year — is Sunday, Dec. 21. Austin will see just over 10 hours of daylight.
The Earth is tilted approximately 23.5 degrees on its axis, and each solstice is dictated by the amount of solar declination, or "the latitude of Earth where the sun is directly overhead at noon," according to National Geographic.
— USA TODAY reporter Jeanine Santucci contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Daylight saving time 2025 may be the last in Texas, lawmakers debate