Donald Trump Supports Permanent Daylight Saving Time
It’s the dreaded Monday after many Americans moved their clocks one hour forward for the annual daylight saving time change. President Donald Trump managed to tweet something that could end up uniting the entire country.
Earlier today, the president took to Twitter to express his support of permanent daylight saving time. He tweeted, “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!”
While many of the president’s tweets end up with plenty of arguing and rude replies, it’s possible that this one may be better received. This matter isn’t necessarily a Republican party issue or a Democratic party issue. Instead, it is a common issue. Many people hate the idea of switching back and forth, and many states have recently voted to stop changing the clocks twice a year. Hawaii and Arizona have never observed the time change after Congress adopted the official policy in 1966, with the Federal Uniform Time Act. The legislation has changed multiple times throughout the years.
Of course, many of the president’s detractors used the pretty innocuous comment to continue their usual derision of Trump. Still, plenty of people replied positively about the idea of never changing the clocks again, after this past weekend’s loss of an hour.
Great to have @SenRickScott & @VernBuchanan join me in reintroducing the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent across the country.
Read more here — > https://t.co/0K3m7o5uhZ pic.twitter.com/cxh0luetr6
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) March 6, 2019
The New York Times recently published an article that appears to agree with the president’s stance on the issue of the time change. The newspaper reported that at least 31 states in the U.S. have measures currently in their legislative apparatuses that deal with either staying on daylight saving time throughout the entire year — instead of switching twice per annum.
Scott Yates, a technology entrepreneur in Colorado, runs a website about remaining on daylight saving time all year. Yates pointed out, “It’s sort of odd, in that it doesn’t have any natural political division to it, but it doesn’t have a natural constituency, either. It’s actually kind of refreshing in that way.”
There is a modest increase in health problems and traffic accidents in the days immediately following the time change, which is one of the reasons many people are ready to do away with the practice many people find unnecessary. Of course, any permanent replacement for the whole country requires an act of Congress. Currently, Florida Senator Mark Rubio has a bill called the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make the change at the federal level — and would provide a framework to stop daylight saving time from putting clocks back and forward twice yearly.
