A federal bid to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, therefore ending Nevadans’ need to change their clocks in the spring and fall, took a significant step this week.
The congressional proposal — dubbed the “Sunshine Protection Act” — advanced out of the House by an overwhelming margin of 308 to 117 votes on Tuesday.
Introduced by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, the bill is now in the hands of the U.S. Senate, and possibly later President Donald Trump, who’s expressed support in the past.
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., joined 307 of his colleagues in support of the legislation. Nevada’s Democratic Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford opposed it.
Amodei said he was proud of his vote, adding that this was the first time the House has fully backed this iteration of the bill since 2018.
“I have spoken with countless Nevadans over the years that are in favor of making Daylight Savings permanent,” he said in a statement. “This bill is the first step in allowing them to do so.”
He added: “The Sunshine Protection Act improves the quality of life for not only Nevadans, but all Americans, providing an additional hour of light at the end of the day.”
The bill advanced to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It’s unclear when further action might take place.
Cortez Masto reviewing the proposal
“The debate on making Daylight Saving Time permanent has been lively, and I look forward to reviewing this bill thoroughly in the Senate now that it’s passed the House,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The office of Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Only two states — Arizona and Hawaii — don’t observe daylight saving time. Nineteen states are in the process of ending the biannual clock change, Amodei noted.
The Nevada Legislature has tried, unsuccessfully, to do the same in the past.
Recently, Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch’s “Lock the Clock Act” failed in the 2025 session.
Congress last tried universal daylight savings time in 1973. The two-year trial ended after a few months amid public outcry.
A major sticking point in that era’s debate was its effect on class start times in schools — and the reason Titus gave for voting against the effort this time. She contended that year-round daylight saving would put schoolchildren at greater risk.
“Currently, Clark County middle school students start classes at 7:30 a.m.,” she said in a statement to the Review-Journal. “With permanent daylight savings time, they would be walking to school in the dark in winter months, making them less visible to motorists.”
Titus noted that 427 Clark County School District students were hit by vehicles last school year, ending in four fatalities.
“We should be protecting our children, not endangering them,” she said.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in October found that only 12 percent of Americans supported the current daylight saving time system. About 47 percent of respondents said they opposed it, while 40 percent were neutral.
“This will provide an additional hour of daylight at the end of the day, improving quality of life following the workday,” Amodei’s statement said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
