Sunshine protection act faces senate hurdles: Here's why it may fail

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act last week with a 308-117 vote, aiming to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.

However, the bill faces major resistance in the Senate, where opposition is divided largely along geographic lines.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) acknowledged the bill’s dim prospects: “Have you ever seen any issue that people are more passionate about and that divides the country more by region than that one?”

A major opponent, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), said he will do everything in his power to prevent the Sunshine Protection Act from becoming law by unanimous consent. Cotton said permanent DST means later sunrise times in northern and midwestern states during the winter.

“For many Arkansans, permanent Daylight Saving Time would mean the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8 or even 8:30 a.m. during the dead of winter,” Cotton said.

“Three months out of the year, kids in towns like Bentonville, Fayetteville and Fort Smith would start school ahead of the sun,” he added.

The debate over the act has created a clear geographic split with southern states supporting more evening daylight and northern/ midwestern states opposing the decision.

Under this act, cities such as Pierre, S.D., and South Bend, Ind., will not see sunrise until after 9:00 a.m. on some winter days. While in Minnesota, the latest sunrise would be around 8:51 a.m.

Congress made an attempt at implementing permanent daylight saving time in the 1970s during President Richard Nixon's administration, but the proposal turned out to be so controversial that it had to be withdrawn just 10 months later.

Also, the Senate's busy agenda is likely to make passing the act even harder. The chamber has other issues on its agenda, including nominations, FISA reauthorization, and Russia sanctions. In that light, the Sunshine Protection Act may never get to the floor until the August recess.

President Trump, on the other hand, is said to be in favour of eliminating the practice of changing clocks.