Permanent daylight saving time? Sleep experts vote no: 'That idea is terrible for our bodies'

Imagine having the light evening hours of summer all year round. This could be our reality if Congress passes the Sunshine Protection Act, making daylight saving time (DST) the new normal for all states — with the exception of Hawaii and certain parts of Arizona, where standard time is always observed.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2021. Rubio believes the act can "reduce crime, encourage kids to play outside and lower the risk of heart attacks and car accidents," according to NBC News.

Daylight saving time is when time jumps forward by an hour. And though we "lose" an hour of sleep temporarily, we gain an hour of sunlight until the fall.

Recently, we made the switch to standard time (ST), meaning the time goes backwards by one hour. On Nov. 6, at 2 a.m. ET, time went back and we "gained" an hour of sleep, but lost an hour of sunlight.

While permanent daylight saving time might sound like the perfect solution, the bill was stalled recently by the House of Representatives — it was unanimously passed by the Senate in March.

The opinions of sleep experts like Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and director of sleep health at Sleepopolis, just might have had something to do with the delay.

"That idea is terrible for our bodies," Harris says.

Here's why Harris, and other sleep experts, believe that implementing the change to permanent daylight saving time won't positively affect people like they think it would.