Congress is again considering a permanent change to the nation’s clocks, with legislation seeking to end the twice-yearly time change and keep most of the United States on daylight saving time throughout the year.
The Sunshine Protection Act would eliminate the November return to standard time for states that currently observe daylight saving time. Instead of moving clocks forward each spring and backward each fall, those states would remain on daylight saving time through all four seasons. The proposal has advanced through the House, while Senate action remains necessary before any nationwide change can take effect.
Federal law currently establishes the nation’s daylight saving time schedule and gives states the option of remaining on standard time throughout the year. It does not provide states with the same authority to independently adopt permanent daylight saving time. That restriction has prevented states that favor year-round daylight saving time from implementing the change without congressional approval.
The federal limitation has become particularly relevant across the West, where Oregon and Washington have already taken legislative action addressing seasonal clock changes. California voters also approved a 2018 ballot measure authorizing the Legislature to consider changes to the state’s daylight saving time practices, subject to federal requirements.
Oregon approved legislation in 2019 establishing a path toward permanent daylight saving time for most of the state if Congress authorized the change and neighboring West Coast states met conditions established under Oregon law. The state has since considered additional legislation addressing permanent standard time as another method of eliminating seasonal clock changes.
The two approaches carry an important legal difference. Oregon could move to permanent standard time without Congress changing federal law, provided state requirements for such a change were satisfied. Permanent daylight saving time would require federal authorization.
Most of Oregon operates within the Pacific Time Zone, along with California and Washington. Most of Malheur County in eastern Oregon follows Mountain Time because of its geographic and economic connections with neighboring Idaho. Any Oregon time legislation must account for that existing division.
If Congress approves permanent daylight saving time, winter schedules would change substantially across much of the country. Communities would retain the same clock used during the summer rather than returning to standard time in November. Sunsets would occur approximately one hour later by the clock during winter, while sunrise would also occur approximately one hour later.
In Oregon, the effects would become particularly visible during December and January, when daylight hours are already limited. Later winter sunrises would place more morning commutes and school travel before sunrise, while the additional hour would move daylight farther into the afternoon.
Those competing effects have shaped congressional debate over which system should replace seasonal clock changes, if Congress decides to eliminate them. Supporters of permanent daylight saving time have emphasized additional afternoon and evening daylight and the elimination of clock changes. Opposition has included concerns about darker winter mornings, school transportation and the relationship between morning light and human sleep cycles.
The United States has previously operated under extended daylight saving time. Congress enacted year-round daylight saving time during the energy crisis of the 1970s as part of an effort to reduce energy consumption. The original experiment was shortened after public opposition developed, particularly over dark winter mornings. The country also used extended daylight saving time during World War II.
Current federal law sets daylight saving time from the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November. Hawaii and most of Arizona remain on standard time throughout the year, while the majority of states continue changing clocks twice annually.
No immediate change has taken effect for 2026. Unless Congress completes legislation and a new federal law changes the schedule beforehand, daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. Clocks in most of the country will move backward one hour, including throughout Oregon’s Pacific Time communities.
Congressional action would have broader consequences than simply eliminating the November clock change. It would determine which time standard most Americans use throughout winter and would allow states including Oregon to proceed under a system that federal law currently prevents them from adopting independently.
Until that federal process is completed, Oregon and other states considering permanent daylight saving time remain subject to the existing national schedule.