Wait, KY has to turn clocks back for daylight saving time? Didn’t lawmakers change it?

Kentucky residents will soon gain an hour when they set their clocks back at 2 a.m. Nov. 5 for the end of daylight saving time, which began in March.

But haven’t commonwealth legislators tried to end the practice of springing forward and falling back?

Here’s what to know about the state of daylight saving time in Kentucky.

Daylight saving time legislation in Kentucky

Kentucky lawmakers prefiled a bill in 2019 aiming to establish year-round daylight saving time in the Bluegrass State if allowed by the U.S. Congress, but the bill never moved. States do not have the authority to choose permanent daylight saving time.

Although the U.S. Senate approved a bill last year to make daylight saving time the year-round standard across the nation, the measure has yet to pass the bicameral legislature.

So far, Hawaii and Arizona are the only states in the country that don’t observe daylight saving time, and the Navajo Nation portion of Arizona does practice daylight saving.

The history of daylight saving

Daylight saving time was made a legal requirement by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports.

State governments cannot independently change time zones or the length of daylight saving time, the department reports, but they can exempt themselves from the practice.

“States do not have the authority to choose to be on permanent Daylight Saving Time,” the U.S. Department of Transportation website reads.

Next year’s daylight saving time will begin March 10, 2024.

How does daylight saving affect sleep?

While Kentucky residents will gain an hour Nov. 5, the time change might not actually translate to more sleep.

“There is little evidence of extra sleep” on the fall night when daylight saving ends, according to a 2013 article from the Sleep Medicine Reviews journal, and you might actually be losing rest.

“The cumulative effect of five consecutive days of earlier rise times following the autumn change again suggests a net loss of sleep across the week,” the article’s abstract reads.

The end of daylight saving time has also been linked to other issues, such as increased collisions with deer, a 2022 article published by Current Biology reports.

While you might be less well-rested when the time changes this November, a March article from the Mayo Clinic Health System offers tips on how to reduce your sleep loss:

• If you feel tired a few days after daylight saving time ends, take a 15-to 20-minute-long nap in the early afternoon.

• Assess whether naps are helpful to you. Napping can hurt nighttime sleep for some people, while others may benefit from short naps.

• Make an effort to be well-rested before the time changes.

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