SALEM, Ore. — In less than a month, a majority of Americans will lose an hour of sleep as we shift to daylight saving time. But for how much longer?
During this year's short legislative session, Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill to end the biannual clock change and establish a permanent standard time.
This is the newest approach to stop the practice, and could signal a sea change from where previous efforts ended up.
2019 effort
Back in 2019, both Oregon and Washington passed bills to make daylight saving time permanent. However, the bill also required California to sign on before making the switch, and lawmakers there have been sitting on the issue with no progress.
States need approval from either Congress or the Department of Transportation to make that kind of time change, and the idea was for the three states to approach the federal government as a unified bloc.
But without California, it's been stalled.
Another push for standard time
The time change impasse has held for years. But earlier this month, lawmakers introduced Oregon Senate Bill 1548, which would make standard time permanent instead of daylight saving, bypassing the need for federal approval.
But this measure is not without opposition. One University of Washington professor, Steven Calandrillo, said lawmakers should focus again on making daylight saving time permanent because of safety concerns surrounding when the sun sets.
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"That evening rush hour kills three times as many people as the morning rush hour because there's more people on the road," he said. "There are more kids enjoying outdoor unsupervised play, there is more alcohol in people's bloodstreams, people are rushing to get home. By pushing daylight into the evening hours, we can actually dramatically reduce the number of fatalities on roads."
A majority of testimonial statements sent into the legislature wrote in support permanent standard time.
Jay Pea, the president of Save Standard Time, claims the 2019 push for permanent daylight saving time was based off misinterpreted evidence and that standard time is what is actually supported by sleep experts.
"It fairly balances light across the morning and the evening to fit all lifestyles, and it's supported by history as the most sustainable way — as in the most lasting popularity for ending clock change," Pea said.
"(Permanent standard time is) shown by science to be the healthiest and safest way for commuters, for people who need to work outdoors like farmers or construction, for children learning in school and for productivity in the workplace," he continued. "This is the wide consensus of dozens of nonprofits. There might be one or few detractors who might pick out one or two studies, but really, there are hundreds of studies showing that permanent standard time is the better way to go."
SB 1548 is currently in committee. Lawmakers are scheduled to hold a work session over this bill on Thursday.