Idahoans are setting clocks ahead for daylight saving this weekend. Is it the last time?

This weekend, Idahoans will once again lose an hour overnight, setting their clocks forward in accordance with daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9, and ends Nov. 2. Both clock changes with “spring forward” and “fall back” occur at 2 a.m., becoming 3 a.m. and 1 a.m., respectively. 

But why are we still observing this tradition, after what feels like years of teasing a switch to end it? Here’s what we know. 

Daylight saving time origins 

It has been standard to observe daylight saving time across the United States since the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was passed. The legislation immediately followed the creation of the Department of Transportation. Both were made in response to rising transportation needs for the growing national economy.

Time zones had been standardized federally as early as 1883, with the current six time zones standard across the 50 states beginning when Hawaii became a state, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 

The Uniform Time Act restricts state governments from altering their time zones or changing the dates associated with daylight saving time within their boundaries. 

However, states are allowed to independently exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time entirely. 

All states except Hawaii and Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation territories) observe it. Numerous U.S. territories have opted out as well. These states and boundaries observe permanent standard time, which is permissible per the legislation.

Updating DST legislation 

There is growing bipartisan support for updating the standards around daylight saving time. 

A bill to make DST permanent, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, passed the U.S. Senate unanimously in 2022. It would make daylight saving time the year-round standard, and allow states opting out to determine their own standard times. 

The bill, however, sat in the House of Representatives through the end of the legislative session. 

Since then, no legislation regarding daylight saving time has made it through the House of Representatives. 

In February, a new bill was introduced in the Idaho House of Representatives proposing permanent standard time across all of Idaho. The bill would need to make it through the state House and Senate before reaching Gov. Brad Little’s desk. It hasn’t had a hearing.

Sunshine Protection Act 2025 

The Sunshine Protection Act was reintroduced with the bipartisan support of 15 senators on Jan. 8, 2025, proposing permanent daylight saving time as the U.S. standard. 

“Every year, more Americans grow more frustrated setting their clocks back and forth, and every winter folks in Washington state despair at the prospect of losing an hour of precious sunlight when we are forced off Daylight Saving Time,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) stated in a press release. “This is about public health, it is about our economy, and it’s about just putting a little more light in families’ lives so they can spend time together, outdoors, in the sunshine.” 

President Donald Trump has publicly stated his intentions to eliminate daylight saving time, though no concrete steps have been taken. While it’s possible this could be the last time we set our clocks forward in spring and back in the fall, it’s too early to say for sure.