Yes, we’re still changing the clocks. Checking in on Oregon’s quest for permanent daylight saving time

Editor’s note: The original version of this story published in 2021. We have updated it with details about efforts to make daylight savings permanent from the past year.

On Sunday, the annual occasion of “falling back” will occur at 2 a.m. for Oregonians, as the clocks switch from daylight saving time back to standard time. But the state is trying to stop the practice.

In June 2019, Oregon took the first step toward eliminating the time change when legislators passed a measure that would allow most of the state – the majority which falls into the Pacific Time Zone – to remain in daylight saving time.

Gov. Kate Brown signed the legislation, yet it hasn’t gone into effect. It’s been three years, so what’s the hold-up? There are a few layers.

Some background on why daylight saving exists

More than a century ago, 1918 to be exact, the federal government first “delegated time zone supervision to the federal organization in charge of railroad regulation — the Interstate Commerce Commission,” according to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s website.

The concept of daylight saving time transpired once the U.S. entered World War I, after the government noticed Germany’s practice of changing time to conserve fuel and power with extended daylight hours. The U.S. was inspired and copied the idea.

Once World War I ended, daylight saving time was abolished for the nation as a whole but allowed to continue on a state-by-state basis.

“As a result, confusion and collisions caused by different local times once again became a transportation issue,” according to the U.S. DOT.

In 1966, the department was founded and given regulatory power over time zones, which included the renewal of uniform daylight saving time across the country with dates for the twice-yearly time transitions set by law.

Currently, two states (Arizona and Hawaii) and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam don’t observe daylight saving time.

What it will take for Oregon’s law to begin

Doing away with “falling back” and “springing forward” in Oregon is not just up to Oregon – its Pacific Time Zone neighbors are involved, too.

All three West Coast states are trying to stay in daylight saving time. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a similar measure as Oregon in 2019. In California, voters supported year-round daylight saving time in 2018. The proposition then went to California lawmakers, but the effort reached a dead end when legislators didn’t pass it by the end-of-session deadline.

The effort was revived in the California Legislature in early 2022, but the bill failed to get the required two-thirds majority vote for passage.

So, California is the main reason the change is in a holding pattern on the West Coast.

However, even if California followed the suit of Oregon and Washington, there’s still another party that gets a say: Congress.

In the case that the trio of states would be in favor of year-round daylight saving time, federal lawmakers would have to give a stamp of approval to the change and having all three states on the same page would likely help. Congress needs to get involved because the federal Uniform Time Act doesn’t allow for year-round daylight saving time.

Current federal standing

In a rare showing of bipartisanship, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation in March to abolish “spring forward” and “fall back” in favor of permanent daylight saving time permanent, beginning in 2023. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio introduced the Sunshine Protection Act and Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden was one of the co-sponsors.

But in June, the U.S. House didn’t follow suit, so the bill is now stalled and scheduled to expire next month.

Is there another way without waiting on Congress?

There is, but it’s tricky. It relates to how Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe daylight saving time.

As noted above, those two states remain in standard time year-round.

Under federal law, a state can exempt itself from daylight saving time transitions by being in standard time year-round. There isn’t a requirement for congressional approval when a state goes that route. Oregon’s measure has approved the state to always observe daylight saving time.

The preference for daylight saving time over standard time is argued by many politicians, who say standard time is better for individual health, economic productivity, and so on. These claimed benefits to the timing of daylight in DST is why 20 states, including Oregon, Washington and California want to be in daylight saving time year-round.

Looking ahead, the Oregon legislation created itself a 10-year window to become “operative,” so the process is ongoing until the deadline of Nov. 30, 2029.