Daylight saving time (in 2023) ends on Sunday, November 5th, meaning we once again undergo the ritual of changing time and setting the clocks back one hour. 

Now…what about the law that passed in order to make daylight saving time a permanent thing and why are we still falling back – well – that answer is complicated and tied up with Congress.

In 2021 Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill that would put Alabama on Daylight Saving Time (DST) year-around becoming one of 19 states enacting legislation to do away with the time change. The problem is doing that will require Congressional action and – so far – that’s failed to receive bipartisan traction.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, with other lawmakers – including Tommy Tuberville, reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 earlier this year; the act, which in 2021, passed the Senate but sat in the House, would do away with changing the clocks to standard time and instead it would move the U.S. to all Daylight Saving Time – year round.

If the bill does pass the Senate, it would require House approval and a presidential signature to become law.

But for the time being, in Alabama, its still “Spring Forward, Fall Back”.