WASHINGTON — A Washington lawmaker has co-sponsored a bill to move the U.S. to daylight saving time year-round two years after Washington approved the change at the state level.
Washington Sen. Patty Murray (D) is bringing the Sunshine Protection Act in front of federal lawmakers alongside Sen. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). The act would make daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time.
“To put it simply, Americans want more sunshine and less depression," said Murray. "That’s why I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 which would extend daylight saving time permanently so Americans can enjoy having sunlight during their most productive hours of the day and never have to worry about changing their clocks again."
RELATED: Don’t forget: Washington will still turn clocks back Sunday despite daylight saving time law
The act was first introduced in congress in 2018 by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and was re-introduced in 2019.
Murray has also pushed the Biden Administration and the Department of Transportation, which is in charge of time zones in the United States, to grant states that have approved year-round daylight saving time a federal waiver to do so.
Overall, 19 states have voted to move to daylight saving time permanently, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. However, the switch requires federal approval. States are only allowed to opt to remain on standard time, not daylight saving time permanently, according to the Uniform Time Act of 1966.
Two states, Hawaii and Arizona, have opted to remain on standard time permanently. U.S. territories American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe daylight saving time.