Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Until the Sunshine Protect Act passes in Congress making Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent – if it ever passes – Floridians will have to continue “springing forward” in March and "falling back" each November, time-wise.
This means that come this Sunday, Nov. 2, Floridians will have to wind their clocks back an hour to Standard Time, despite efforts by state leaders to do away with the annual practice.
In 2018, Senator Rick Scott, who was then Florida’s governor, signed a bill into law that made DST permanent in the state, provided that Congress approved a similar measure.
Congress’s involvement is necessary because, although the Uniform Time Act allows states to opt out of DST and stay on standard time, changing to a permanent DST schedule is considered a change to the time zone, which requires federal approval.
Soon after Scott signed the bill into law, then U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State in the Trump administration, introduced the Sunshine Protection Act in Congress, seeking to enact the change at the federal level. The measure passed in the Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives, where it still remains stuck.
Daylight Saving Time runs from the second Sunday in March, when clocks are moved forward an hour to account for extended daylight, to Nov. 2, when they are moved back an hour.
DST reportedly dates from 1918, when it was enacted in the U.S. as a wartime measure to conserve energy during the first world war. Repealed after the war’s end, DST was reintroduced during World War II and became standardized nationally by the 1966 Uniform Time Act, which established the practice of the twice-yearly time changes.
As of 2023, approximately 34 percent of the world's countries use DST, primarily in Europe and North America, although some countries observe it only in regions.
Historically, some societies have reportedly adopted seasonal changes to their timekeeping since ancient times to make better use of the daylight.
As of 2025, according to polls, a majority of Americans indicated that they preferred to end DST permanently, with 54 percent of those surveyed reporting that they would like to see a permanent switch to standard time.