KENTUCKY, USA — The end of daylight saving time is just a few days away, however some states are in favor of making the practice permanent. Here's where Kentucky stands.
On Sunday, Nov. 3, Americans will get an extra hour of sleep when clocks "fall back" an hour at 2 a.m.
Only two U.S. states, Arizona and Hawaii, don't observe daylight saving time at all, refusing to roll their clocks forward and backward every year. This is thanks to a loophole in a 58-year-old federal law that requires states to stay on daylight saving time.
For the rest of the U.S., however, Congress decides whether or not states must observe daylight saving time.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 mandates the use of daylight saving time across the country, but allows states to opt out and exempt themselves from the practice to stay on standard time year-round.
The act does not allow states to permanently establish daylight saving time, which would keep them an hour ahead from November to March while other states switch to standard time.
In the last five years, 19 states have passed measures to stay on daylight saving time permanently — a move that some have called "lock the clock," according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. One of those states was Kentucky.
Where does Kentucky stand on making daylight saving time permanent?
Kentucky is split up in two time zones. The western part of the state, including Bowling Green, is on Central Time while the eastern half, including Louisville and Lexington, is on Eastern Time.
In 2023, a measure was introduced in the Kentucky House to make DST permanent if the Uniform Time Act of 1966 or the Standard Time Act of 1918 are amended by Congress to allow year-round daylight saving time. However, the bill failed to become law.
Earlier this year, a converse measure was introduced that would have made the Bluegrass State use standard time throughout the year. House Bill 674 never made it out of committee.
But none of those bills or laws can take effect until there is a federal repeal of the congressional act. In essence, Congress needs to change the law in order for the U.S. to stop using daylight saving time.
What is Congress doing to make daylight saving time permanent?
There have been efforts on the congressional level to make this change.
For the past few years, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has introduced a version of what he calls the "Sunshine Protection Act," which would permanently establish daylight saving time for the whole country. The bills, however, usually die before they ever come close to becoming law.
Back in 2022, the U.S. Senate passed a version of that bill but it was never voted on by the House of Representatives.
With efforts from the 2023 session failing to advance, Americans will continue to "spring forward" and "fall back" until further notice.
