‘Ditch the switch’: It’s time to finally do away with daylight saving time | Opinion

If your doctor said you participated in an activity linked to more traffic accidents, chronic sleep deprivation and higher health risks, wouldn’t you want to stop it?

It’s an activity all Californians partake in each year: “springing forward” into daylight saving time each March, and “falling back” into standard time in November. Because of the inconvenience of and health risks posed by this ritual, I introduced Senate Bill 1413 last legislative session to “Ditch the Switch” by instead implementing permanent standard time. The proposal did not result in getting rid of the switch, but I am still committed to finding ways to end this unhealthy, inconvenient practice.

Opinion

Most people agree to ditch the switch, but the debate lies in which switch to ditch.

You might be wondering: “Haven’t Californians already approved doing just that?” In 2018, voters approved Proposition 7, which allowed the Legislature to change to daylight saving time with a two-thirds vote if the change meets federal law and Congress authorizes it. However, these changes have not been implemented.

Current federal law only allows states to authorize permanent standard time year-round or be on daylight saving time for a portion of the year. No option to permanently switch to daylight saving time exists. While there have been a few proposals in Congress to allow for permanent daylight saving time, they have consistently stalled.

California’s only options now are to move to permanent standard time or keep the status quo with its biannual time changes.

We all know the inconveniences of “springing forward” and “falling back” each year. But less known — yet amply documented — are the negative effects on people’s productivity, health and safety. Standard time aligns more closely with human circadian rhythm (our internal body clock) than daylight saving time does.

Humans respond to environmental light — the most important signal regulating our biological clocks. This is why the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association support permanent standard time because it aligns clock time closest with when the sun is overhead at noon. Setting clocks naturally closer to sun time would allow people to get more sleep.

When later sunrises and sunsets are artificially set (which is what happens under daylight saving time), our body clocks keep us up later at night, making it difficult to fall asleep on time and wake refreshed the next day. This decreases productivity, with one study estimating at least $2 billion per year lost nationally due to workers showing up late or not at all.

Medical experts, such as the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, say that permanent standard time provides a “a better opportunity to get the right duration of high-quality, restful sleep on a regular basis, which improves our cognition, mood, cardiovascular health and overall well-being.”

Interrupting our sleep pattern is harmful to our bodies. Gaining an hour of sleep may sound good, as daylight saving time ends on Sunday. Ultimately, however, changes to our sleep pattern interfere with our performance at work and school.

I have heard from critics who say they enjoy long summer evenings provided under daylight saving time. But the change to standard time will not drastically affect that. For instance, on July 1, the sun would set at 7:35 p.m., which is still an arguably long evening. In contrast, if we were on permanent daylight saving time, the sun would not rise until 7:25 a.m. on January 1.

California can work in a multi-state coalition, which right now includes Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. The coalition represents the growing public sentiment against the disruption caused by switching times.

It’s time for the legislature to take action on this issue, and I look forward to moving the discussion forward in 2025.

State Sen. Roger Niello represents District 6, encompassing portions of Sacramento and Placer Counties.