House passes Trump-supported bill to make daylight savings time permanent

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to pass the Sunshine Protection Act that seeks to make daylight savings time permanent. 

The legislation, which puts the country on the time currently observed between March and November unless a state exempts itself before the act takes effect, passed in a bipartisan 308-117 split. It still needs to pass the Senate before it can take effect.

President Donald Trump has come out in support of the legislation, stating in May that the current approach is costing Americans hundreds of millions of dollars each year to reset their clocks.

Although the president has supported the legislation, it faces a tough path in the Senate with opposition from Republicans such as Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark. Cotton argues that late winter sunrises would force children in higher latitudes to go to school in the dark. 

Supporters argue the time change disrupts sleep, increasing workplace injuries and car accidents, and that more hours of evening sunlight would increase economic activity. 

Some states already decline to observe daylight savings time, including Arizona and Hawaii.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.