Utah Is Ready To Stay On Daylight Saving Time – If Congress Passes A Bill, That Is

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Many folks are lagging Monday morning after losing an hour of sleep over the weekend.

On Sunday, Daylight Saving Time kicked in at 2 a.m. It will come to an end in November when the Standard Time resumes.

Every year Americans talk about the bi-annual practice of changing clocks and schedules as if it’s set in stone. However, the fact is policy has changed a lot over the last 100 years.

For example:

• Countries around the world started using Daylight Saving Time as a wartime measure in World War I.
• In the U.S., it was put into practice at the end of WWI and during World War II. For the more than two decades that followed, there was no federal standard.
• In 1966, nearly every state observed Daylight Saving Time with the exception of Arizona, which to this day stays on Standard Time year round.
• In 2007, Daylight Saving Time was put on the current schedule of the second Sunday in March – first Sunday in November.

States can opt to remain on Standard Time for the entire year. However, they cannot choose to stay on Daylight Saving Time year round unless Congress passes a bill allowing it.

The National Conference of State Legislatures website shows how many states are trying to move to Daylight Saving Time all year.

Utah was one of seven states that passed laws last year making Daylight Saving Time permanent if and when Congress acts.

Under Utah’s bill, though, four Western states would also have to move to DST for the law to take effect.