Daylight saving ends soon, but when? Wait, didn’t Idaho and Congress decide to stop this?

Daylight saving time is set to end in the fall like every year, but didn’t lawmakers on the state and federal levels decide to end this tradition?

Well, kind of, but not really.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 6, requiring most Americans to set their clocks back one hour. This year’s daylight saving time has been underway since March 13.

The longstanding tradition of moving clocks ahead or back one hour each year has been the bane of many a sleep-deprived American for decades, so much so that some state and federal lawmakers have tried to stop it.

Did Idaho vote to end daylight saving time?

The Idaho Legislature voted in 2020 to make daylight saving time permanent in North Idaho if Washington makes it permanent due to North Idaho being on Pacific Standard Time and Southern Idaho on Mountain Standard Time. The Legislature also voted in 2020 to exempt Idaho from daylight saving time provisions of federal law.

That means the state would stop changing the clocks twice a year and no longer have to endure darkness before dinner during winter. However, the changes won’t take effect at the state level until Congress votes to do away with daylight saving time.

Congress voted for permanent daylight saving time this year, right?

Well, unfortunately, no. It’s true that the U.S. Senate on March 15, by unanimous consent, passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021. There was much buzz over the bill at the time, given that it would make daylight saving time permanent starting on Nov. 5, 2023 — that is, if the House and the president approved it.

As you can now probably guess, that hasn’t happened. The bill was sent to the House, but nothing has been done with it since March.

Why make daylight saving permanent?

The U.S. has had some form of daylight saving time since 1918, with the current federal policy being enacted in 1966. There have been a few changes since then, mainly with changes to the start and end dates.

Daylight saving time was initially enacted to save energy by providing more daylight in the evening. Some studies have called such savings into question.

Other studies have shown impacts on people’s health because of the time changes.