The debate over what to do about the twice-yearly changing of clocks has yielded a proposal to split the difference between the sides.
The idea of “half-daylight saving time” may seem far-fetched, but for Florida Rep. Greg Steube, it’s the animating force behind the Daylight Act of 2026, which he introduced in Congress recently.
According to HR 7378, daylight saving time as it exists now would be abolished. Instead, the proposal would shift clocks forward 30 minutes from the current standard time, and would leave them there permanently.
Such a measure would effectively split the difference between year-round standard time, which many scientists and sleep experts have advocated, and the Sunshine Protection Act, which would mandate year-round daylight saving time in the United States.
The issue with either approach would be the impacts it would have in opposite seasons. Full-time daylight saving time would mean extremely late sunrises in January, with the sun perhaps not coming up until after 9 a.m., and or extremely early sunrises in the summer, with the sun coming up before 4 a.m. in parts of the continental U.S.
The Daylight Act of 2026 would shift summer sunrises and sunsets 30 minutes earlier than what we’re used to, and winter sunrises and sunsets 30 minutes later than what we’re used to.
For Chicago that means our earliest winter sunset would be at 4:49 p.m. in December instead of 4:19 p.m., and the latest winter sunrise would be 7:48 a.m. instead of 7:18 a.m. in January.
Chicago’s earliest summer sunrise would be 4:44 a.m. instead of 5:14 a.m., and the sun would set in June at 8 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m.
Under current U.S. law, states can either opt out of daylight saving time entirely, as Arizona and Hawaii do, or they can participate in the twice-yearly changing of clocks. According to provisions of the Uniform Time Act, no state can elect to observe daylight saving time year-round, though many states have passed legislation that would enable them to do so if Congress changes that law.
Such efforts have been made at the Congressional level, though some lawmakers still want to pass the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide instead of allowing states to decide their times.
Most sleep experts are in favor of permanent standard time, both because it would eliminate changing clocks, but that it would also result in there being fewer morning hours of daylight, which helps with sleep rhythms and has health benefits according to experts.
There have been no votes scheduled for any of the measures, and debate over the issue remains heated.
