House passes Sunshine Protection Act—permanent DST heads to Senate next

The House has passed the Sunshine Protection Act, moving a plan to make daylight saving time permanent to the Senate. On July 14, 2026, lawmakers approved H.R. 139 by 308-117 in Roll Call 238.

If the measure becomes law, it could change daily routines for millions—because it would end the twice-yearly spring and fall clock switch. But a permanent nationwide change would still require Senate approval and a presidential signature.

What the House actually voted on

H.R. 139, titled the Sunshine Protection Act, cleared the House on Roll Call 238 with 308 yeas and 117 nays. The Clerk’s record lists the bill as Passed.

What the bill would change (plain English)

H.R. 139 is designed to end the federal “temporary period” that currently drives the spring-to-fall daylight saving schedule under the Uniform Time Act. In the bill’s language, it repeals the temporary daylight saving time period, while making conforming adjustments tied to how “standard time” is set.

The practical effect—assuming the bill becomes law—is that most of the country would stop changing clocks twice each year and instead use a year-round daylight saving time approach.

Who is affected day-to-day

Eliminating the switch would ripple through systems that rely on predictable clock rules, including:

• Schools and childcare (bus routes, bell schedules, after-school activities).
• Transit and transportation (schedules that must stay aligned across regions).
• Employers and businesses (shift planning, payroll timing, and time-based operations).
• Families and commuters (especially during winter when morning daylight would shift if the country stays on a daylight-saving-style clock year-round).

The wildcard: how state “exemptions” could work

Even if daylight saving time becomes permanent federally, H.R. 139 includes language meant to preserve an exemption pathway that existed before enactment. The bill text says the standard time for a State (or part of a State) that exempted itself from the Uniform Time Act’s provisions as in effect the day before enactment would be set in one of two ways that the State could consider appropriate:

• Option 1: use the standard time described in the Uniform Time Act provisions (as referenced by the bill), or
• Option 2: use the standard time as it was in effect on the day before enactment.

AP also reported that states could opt out if their legislatures act before the bill’s enactment.

Bottom line: there’s a real chance the outcome isn’t perfectly uniform everywhere, depending on how exemption language is applied.

What happens next—and why it matters

House passage does not make a permanent clock change by itself. The Senate still has to take up H.R. 139 and pass its own version, and then the President would need to sign the bill before any new nationwide time rule could take effect.

For readers, the key “watch next” items are whether Senate leaders schedule the bill soon, whether amendments change the state-exemption approach, and what (if any) implementation timeline is finalized in the final enacted text.

Sources

• U.S. House Clerk roll call (Roll Call 238)
• Congress.gov authenticated bill text (H.R. 139)
• Associated Press on House passage stakes and state opt-out reporting