Some Texans dread the twice-yearly clock changes.
This video created with the assistance of AI.
A proposal moving through Congress would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, potentially ending the clock changes in Texas.
The U.S. House passed the Sunshine Protection Act in a bipartisan 308-117 vote July 14.
The legislation reached the Senate the next day and was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. So far, neither a committee vote nor a Senate floor vote has been scheduled.
Texas is already positioned to make the switch. House Bill 1393, known as the “Texas Time” bill, passed the Texas Legislature and was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June 2025.
However, the bill cannot take effect unless Congress changes federal law to allow states to permanently observe daylight saving time.
What would permanent daylight saving time mean for Texas?
If Congress changes federal law to allow permanent daylight saving time, Texas would no longer change its clocks every March and November. Instead, the state would keep the daylight saving time schedule it currently follows during the summer year-round.
In Austin, the earliest winter sunset occurs around 5:31 p.m. in December, while the latest winter sunrise occurs around 7:30-7:45 a.m.
If permanent daylight saving time were enacted, those times would shift about an hour later. That would put the earliest sunset around 6:31 p.m. and the latest sunrise around 8:30–8:45 a.m.
Below is a graphic showing how sunrise and sunset times would change across Texas and the U.S. if the Sunshine Protection Act becomes law.
When is daylight saving time?
Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Clocks move forward one hour when daylight saving time begins and back one hour when it ends.
This year, daylight saving time started Sunday, March 8, and is scheduled to end on Sunday, Nov. 1.
Why do we have daylight saving time?
The idea of daylight saving time dates to World War I, when Germany and Austria first adopted it in 1916 to conserve resources during the war. The United States followed in 1918.
Benjamin Franklin is sometimes associated with the idea because of a satirical 1784 letter suggesting people wake earlier to take advantage of daylight. He wrote: “Every morning, as soon as the sun rises, let all the bells in every church be set ringing.”
This article originally published at Could Texas get permanent daylight saving time? See Austin’s sunrise, sunset times.