Daylight saving time starts soon: What would change if it became permanent?

(NEXSTAR) – Soon, our clocks will leap forward an hour on the earliest possible date as daylight saving time begins. If some lawmakers have it their way, this will be the last time our clocks change.

While state-level bills are nearly evenly split between permanent standard time and permanent daylight saving time, recent federal bills have called for the latter.

Two bills in Congress, House and Senate versions of the Sunshine Protection Act, call for permanent daylight saving time in the U.S. The Senate tried last year to fast-track its version of the Sunshine Protection Act in October, only for the effort to be thwarted. Another bill introduced in early February, the Daylight Act of 2026, would move clocks forward a half-hour from where they are now, and end the seasonal changing of the clocks.

At present, online tracking shows those bills remain in committee.

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We’ve observed permanent daylight saving time before on multiple occasions, and it was not as widely appreciated. Health and sleep experts also argue that permanent standard time is better for us.

Nonetheless, there are signs Congress could push for permanent daylight saving time again this year. In October, some senators tried to fast-track their version of the Sunshine Protection Act, only for that effort to be thwarted. There also appears to be support from the White House.

So what would happen if, on March 8, we set our clocks ahead an hour for the last time?

Under permanent daylight saving time, summer and fall would feel exactly as they do now. It's the sunrises and sunsets from November through February that would be noticeably different.

Let's say you live in St. Louis. Through summer, the earliest sunrise will be 5:36 a.m., while the latest sunset will peak at around 8:30 p.m. When clocks switch back to standard time in November, the sun mostly rises after 7 a.m. and sets late in the 4 o'clock hour or early in the 5 o'clock hour.

If clocks stayed on daylight saving time instead, sunrises in St. Louis would come after 8 a.m. through December and January, an hour later than they do now. The sun would set after 5 p.m. through December and 6 p.m. in January.

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That may sound enticing, especially when the early sunsets of our current winters can feel so dark.

The table below shows the latest sunrises and earliest sunsets across multiple U.S. cities during the fall months, as well as what those times would switch to on permanent daylight saving time. 

The research — and history — are stacked against permanent daylight saving time, however. The U.S. tried the practice multiple times in the 1900s, only to quickly transition out of it.

Last year, Maine and Texas became the latest states to enact legislation to make daylight saving time permanent within their boundaries, should Congress allow them to do so.

Without action by Congress, all clocks in the U.S. (except in Hawaii and Arizona) will spring forward on March 8 and fall back an hour on November 1.