PORTLAND, Oregon — The Oregon Senate passed an amended bill that would keep the state on standard time. Lawmakers narrowly approved it on Monday on a 16-14 vote.
Senate Bill 1548 would do away with daylight saving time and put Oregon permanently on standard time, but only if Washington and California adopt to do the same. The amended version of the bill includes a trigger that ties the two neighboring states California and Washington. If neither states pass similar bills within the next 10 years, by March 2034, the Oregon bill would then be repealed.
The amended bill heads next to the House for consideration. But for now, Oregonians will still need to observe daylight saving time and 'spring forward' at 2 a.m. on March 10.
In late February, a previous version of the bill failed to pass the Senate and was deadlocked at 15-15. One of the bill's sponsors changed her vote, bringing SB 1548 back for reconsideration.
Lawmakers have long considered putting an end to the twice-annual clock switch. In 2019, Oregon and Washington passed bills to make daylight saving time permanent, but it never went into effect. Those bills also required California to sign on and that effort stalled. States need approval from Congress or the Department of Transportation to make daylight saving time permanent, but a move to permanent standard time does not.
Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time. They are the only two states in the country that are on year-round permanent standard time.