The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, by a vote of 308-117 on Tuesday, July 14, ending the twice-a-year clock change and locking the country into daylight saving time year-round. Rep. Brett Guthrie, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement following the vote that the bipartisan margin reflected both constituent demand and evidence that year-round daylight saving time boosts economic activity and public safety. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, and now moves to the Senate.
The measure would put the country permanently on the time observed from March to November. States would still be able to stay on standard time year-round, but only if they enact an exemption before the federal law takes effect. Arizona and Hawaii, along with Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other territories, already sit out the clock change.
Who voted how
The split was geographic more than partisan. Twenty-two Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against the bill. Members from tourism-heavy coastal states including Florida, New Jersey and Louisiana largely backed it, while lawmakers from the Midwest and agriculture-heavy states pushed back. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voted no. Republican opponents included Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana and Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming.
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, the Tennessee Republican presiding over the floor, played the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” on his phone as he read out the tally. The bill had earlier cleared the Energy and Commerce Committee 48-1 as part of the surface transportation package, with Rep. Nanette Barragán of California the only no vote.
The business case
The lobbying behind this bill is decades old and specific. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation, the National Association of Convenience Stores and the American Farm Bureau Federation have all backed permanent daylight saving time. The logic is simple: an extra hour of evening light after work moves people out of the house and into stores, restaurants, ballparks and gas stations.
Golf has been the loudest voice. Jay Karen, chief executive of the National Golf Course Owners Association, told lawmakers in 2025 that playable hours directly determine how many rounds courses sell, how many people they employ and what they earn, especially in the late afternoon. A 2018 study by the World Golf Foundation put the U.S. golf industry’s annual output at $84.1 billion. In Michigan alone, the industry has pegged its economic impact at $4.2 billion, including $1.2 billion in wages.
Rep. Frank Pallone, the New Jersey Democrat and ranking member on Energy and Commerce, supported the bill on tourism grounds, arguing that more evening light means more boardwalk traffic and more revenue for local small businesses. Guthrie made a similar pitch on the floor, framing the change as shifting one hour of winter sunlight from morning to evening so people can exercise, attend events and shop.
The other ledger
The economics are not one-sided. Retail and restaurants gain, but agricultural operations that run on sunrise lose. Some researchers have measured a decline in stock market returns tied to the time change, though the finding is disputed, and there is no real consensus that daylight saving time itself is a net positive for output.
Where there is more agreement is on health costs. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, backed by more than 20 medical and scientific groups, has pushed for permanent standard time instead, arguing that shifting clocks forward misaligns body clocks with solar time. One analysis put the annual economic cost of the resulting increase in heart attacks and strokes at roughly $626 million. Another estimated healthcare costs of permanent daylight saving time at $2.35 billion and productivity losses at 4.4 million workdays a year from fatigue and absenteeism. The House Rules Committee voted down an amendment on Tuesday that would have flipped the bill to permanent standard time.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Pennsylvania Democrat, warned that children would be walking to school in the dark and pointed to the country’s abandoned 1974 experiment with year-round daylight saving time, which Congress killed early after backlash over dark mornings.
The Senate problem
The bill needs 60 votes in the Senate, and that is where the last version died in reverse. The Senate passed a nearly identical measure by unanimous consent in 2022 and the House never took it up. This time the House has acted first.
Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, blocked fast-tracking the bill last October and has not moved. A senior Hill aide said Tuesday that Cotton holds the same concerns and will ask Majority Leader John Thune not to bring the legislation to the floor, citing parts of the country where the sun would not come up until 9 a.m. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida is sponsoring the Senate version, and Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who led earlier efforts, called on Thune to schedule a vote quickly.
President Donald Trump has said he would sign it. Nineteen states have already passed laws that would switch them to year-round daylight saving time the moment Congress allows it. For retailers, restaurant operators and tourism markets in those states, the clock is now a Senate floor decision.
JBizNews Desk | Washington, D.C. © JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.
