Daylight saving time has been utilized in the United States since March of 1918, which means that for over a century, Americans have been turning their clocks forward and backward for a reason not understood by so many.

But what does the law say, why does it exist and why is it still relevant today?

Daylight saving time was first legally introduced in 1918 during World War I. According to the Standard Time Act of 1918, incorporating daylight saving time was “An Act To save daylight and to provide standard time, for the United States.”

Not only did this law introduce both daylight saving and standard time to the U.S., but it also split the country into five different time zones, though the split for time zones is a much less polarized issue.

Multiple laws have tried to govern the flow of the clocks. Shortly after the Standard Time Act of 1918, President Woodrow Wilson repealed it because of how unfavorable it was amongst the public.

The law, repealed in August of 1919, was hardly enacted before its veto. The repeal made it optional to participate in the biannual clock switch.

In 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed another DST-related bill into law. Though it was more or less the same law, this one was “AN ACT To promote the national security and defense by establishing daylight saving time.”

Both laws occurred during wartime – a key aspect of DST’s existence. War is costly, and the original goal of DST was to save energy during the war.

The most recent and presently utilized law governing the clock switch is the Uniform Time Act of 1966, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Department of Transportation was created in the same year, and one of its first goals was to oversee the national switch between DST and ST.

Instead of its goal of saving energy, the Uniform Time Act was “motivated by transportation improvements” and that it “mandated standard time within the existing time zones and established a permanent system of uniform DST, including the dates and times for twice yearly transitions,” according to the DOT.

The DOT also explained that though they head the biannual clock switch, they are not in charge of the legal jurisdiction of DST, meaning they cannot change or repeal its existence in the law. It is up to each state to decide if it chooses to participate.

Two bills have been introduced in Illinois in hopes of making DST permanent.

In the Illinois Senate, a bill known as SB0533 was first introduced in 2019. It passed three rounds of hearings in the Senate, but died before the second hearing in the House.

From the Illinois House in 2021, another bill known as HB0216 moved to make DST permanent in Illinois. It moved through various committees, but it was adjourned in January of this year and never made it into the Senate.

Nationally, a bill proposed in 2021 by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, hoped to do similar things. Though it was unanimously passed in the Senate, it was never heard in the House. It was reintroduced at the beginning of this month and is currently going through various committees.

The one-pager of the bill cites various health, economic and crime-related effects of DST. It details how making DST permanent might combat these outcomes and also addresses common misconceptions.

Daylight saving time is not permanent, and according to a poll done by Monmouth University, only a third of Americans like changing their clocks. If DST were to become permanent, there would be later sunrises and sunsets, rather than the earlier ones that ST would ensure.

But until something gets passed at either the state or national level, Americans will continue readjusting their clocks.

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