BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) The U.S. House voted Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, a move that would end the twice-annual clock changes.
The bill, called the Sunshine Protection Act, passed 308 to 117.
If enacted, the measure would keep clocks shifted one hour ahead. It would also allow states to use standard time if an exemption is in effect before the federal law is enacted.
House passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide (KBAK/KBFX)
The bill now heads to the Senate for review.
In Bakersfield, some locals said making daylight saving time permanent would be a welcome change.
“Yeah, more sleep. Especially when school comes around, it’s very exciting to know you get more sleep. And an extra hour is really helpful sometimes,” said Jenelle Esparza, who is visiting Bakersfield for the summer.
Anwar Jafri, a Bakersfield local, said the current system can be difficult to keep up with.
“It’s very confusing, you know, when the time changes. We have to change the clocks and so forth. So, I think one time is good overall,” Jafri said.
Many people said changing the clocks twice a year is more of a hassle than a benefit, but the shift could affect some industries differently, including agriculture.
House passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide (KBAK/KBFX)
Steven Murray, a manager at Murray Family Farm, said a permanent time change could make planning around daylight easier, particularly during harvest.
“I think for me it would be easier to not have it. And then we would just plan around the light levels, and then everything is kind of smoother,” Murray said.
“If it were the same time all the time, it would be less disruptive and easier, and we would just plan how we harvest and how we do everything else around the change in light,” he said.
Murray said dairy farmers may not see the same benefit because of the routines cows are used to.
House passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide (KBAK/KBFX)
“Then those animals are used to being milked at a specific time. And if you suddenly move that one day every year. Then the animals are going to be confused why it’s not happening at the same time,” Murray said.