Daylight saving time could soon be coming to an end in Tennessee, should Congress pass one particular bill before November.
The U.S. House voted July 14 to make daylight saving time permanent and end the twice-a-year time change. The measure, supported by President Donald Trump, must still be approved by the U.S. Senate.
H.R. 139, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, was filed Jan. 3, 2025, by Rep. Vern Buchanan. Buchanan has brought the Sunshine Protection Act before each Congress since 2018. The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time in the United States and would allow states to opt out to stay on standard time.
Daylight saving time, which began during World War I in Europe as a way to conserve
fuel for electrical power, has been standard practice across the United States for the better part of a century. While the practice is not commonly observed worldwide, all countries in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and parts of Canada and the United States do change their clocks twice a year.
Is permanent daylight saving time supported in Tennessee?
When does the time change? When we fall back in 2026
Daylight saving time for 2026 started on Sunday, March 8, at 2 a.m., when clocks sprang forward an hour to 3 a.m.
Daylight saving time for 2026 ends on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 a.m., when clocks will fall back an hour to 1 a.m. sunrise and sunset will be about an hour earlier on Nov. 1 than the day before, meaning there will be more light in the morning and less light in the evening.
If Congress passes the act to make daylight saving time permanent, there will be no time change in November.
Tennessee trigger law waiting for Congress to pass permanent daylight saving time
In 2019, Tennessee passed a trigger law allowing the state to adopt year-round daylight saving time, contingent on federal approval from the U.S. Congress.
The law, sponsored by Tennessee state Sen. Steven Dickerson, R-Nashville, and state Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg, was proposed in January 2019. It was signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in May of that same year.
The 2019 law dictates that year-round daylight saving time would begin on the first Sunday of November following a national law's passage and certification by the Tennessee General Assembly.
How would permanent daylight saving time impact Tennessee?
Because Tennessee already observes daylight saving time from March to November, residents would notice little difference for much of the year.
The biggest changes would come during the winter months, when clocks currently "fall back" to standard time. Under year-round daylight saving time, sunsets would occur about an hour later during the winter, providing more evening daylight.
The latest sunrises in winter happen in early January, while the earliest sunsets happen in early December. Here is when the earliest sunset and latest sunrise would be across Tennessee:
- Knoxville: The latest sunrise, which happens at 7:46 a.m., would be pushed forward an hour to 8:45 a.m. The earliest sunset in Knoxville's winter is at 5:21 p.m., and under the new act, it would be at 6:21 p.m.
- Memphis: The latest sunrise, which happens at 7:09 a.m., would happen at 8:09 a.m. during permanent daylight saving time. On a day with the earliest sunset of 4:47 p.m., the sun would set at 5:47.
- Nashville: The latest sunrise during Nashville's winter takes place at 6:58 a.m., which would become 7:58 a.m. under the act. The earliest sunset would be moved from 4:32 p.m. to 5:32 p.m.
What other states have laws to enact permanent daylight saving time?
In addition to Tennessee, 17 other states — Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — have already passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent if the law is signed, according to the Hill.
Arizona and Hawaii already remain on standard time year-round and generally do not observe daylight saving time.
Wasn't Daylight Saving Time permanent before?
Yes. In December 1973, then-President Richard Nixon and other leaders were struggling to deal with the ongoing energy crisis, skyrocketing gas prices, and long lines at gas stations from an Arab oil embargo. They worked to ration gasoline, enact a national speed limit of 55 mph, and make daylight saving time permanent for two years.
However, almost immediately, there were complaints of children going to bus stops or teens driving to school in pitch blackness as the sun rose an hour later for them.
By the end of January, eight Florida schoolchildren were killed in accidents compared to two in the same time period the year before, just some of the accidents reported around the country. According to The New York Times, a spokesman for Florida's education department said that "six of the deaths were clearly attributable to the fact that children were going off to school in darkness."
Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal and Tennessee. She can be reached at jordan.green@commercialappeal.com
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee will follow Congress to make daylight saving time permanent
