Marco Rubio Wants To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent Across The Country

Could the U.S. manage permanent Daylight Saving Time? Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wants to find out, CNN reports.

Rubio proposed a bill called the “Sunshine Protection Act,” which could make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide.

Florida’s Senate passed a bill under the same title in February which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent throughout the state, but it has yet to be signed into law.

The senator said in a statement to CNN, “Florida’s legislature overwhelmingly voted for permanent Daylight Saving Time for the State of Florida. Reflecting the will of the Sunshine State, I proudly introduce these bills that would approve Florida’s will and, if made nationally, would also ensure Florida is not out of sync with the rest of the nation.”

Daylight Saving Time was an idea first introduced by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. It appears in one of his essays, in which he makes the point that when people wake up earlier, they make more efficient use of daylight hours and burn fewer candles. It didn’t become a law in the U.S., however, until 1918.

Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that do not abide by the same Daylight Saving Time rules as the rest of the country, and Florida could very well be the next. In southern Arizona, the sun rises an hour earlier than it does in states that share Mountain Daylight Time: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Of course, the sun rising earlier is just an illusion created by different clock settings.

Countries north of Arizona, Hawaii, and Florida, however, have more hours of darkness and colder weather — not to mention an established routine — so making Daylight Saving Time permanent throughout the country would not be ideal for everyone.

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