State lawmakers in more than half the U.S. have considered bills this year to end the twice-a-year practice of changing clocks, yet many of those proposals have already stalled or died in legislative sessions across the country.
At least one bill in a dozen states has faced this fate as of mid-May 2026. In some cases, the measures were voted down; in others, the legislative session ended before the bills could reach a final vote. Georgia came closest to passage with HB 154, which passed the Senate but died when the House adjourned without calling it for a follow-up vote.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative lawmakers and business interests have largely aligned behind proposals for permanent daylight saving time rather than standard time. The Sunshine Protection Act, which has attracted Republican co-sponsors in both chambers, would lock clocks forward year-round to maximize afternoon daylight hours.
Georgia's HB 154 illustrates this divide at the state level. The bill sought to move Georgia into the Atlantic time zone and adopt permanent standard time, effectively matching current Eastern daylight saving time year-round. Some conservative supporters preferred a pure permanent DST approach but accepted the compromise as a way to avoid Congressional action. Business groups in the state argued additional afternoon daylight would benefit retail and restaurant sectors.
What the Left Is Saying
Advocates who support ending seasonal time changes argue that the twice-yearly shift disrupts sleep patterns and has documented effects on health outcomes. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine published a position statement supporting permanent standard time, citing research linking daylight saving time to increased risks of heart attacks, stroke, and workplace injuries.
Democratic state legislators in California pushed for permanent standard time after voters approved Proposition 7 in 2018, which gave the Legislature authority to make that change. When California's permanent standard time bill died this year without a vote, sponsors argued the measure had bipartisan support and would improve public health outcomes.
What the Numbers Show
Nineteen states have previously enacted legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent, contingent on Congressional approval. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington.
Of the 12 states where bills failed this year: two bills died in Washington after the legislature adjourned in March; two bills failed in Tennessee, one voted down and one left in committee when that body's session ended in late April; Mississippi's permanent daylight saving time bill did not pass. Failed measures also targeted Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and New Mexico.
At the federal level, companion versions of the Sunshine Protection Act calling for permanent daylight saving time remain in committee along with two House bills that would allow states to choose between permanent standard or permanent DST on their own.
The Bottom Line
Without Congressional action, states are largely unable to unilaterally change their time practices due to federal regulations governing interstate commerce and transportation schedules. The patchwork of state legislation reflects frustration from voters and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who want consistency, though agreement on which system to adopt remains elusive. Most of the U.S. will set clocks back one hour on November 1, 2026, absent any breakthrough at the federal level.