Will the Sunshine Protection Act Make DST Permanent in Central Time?

Chicago's latest December sunset would shift. That single fact drives the fight over the Sunshine Protection Act in Central Time. The bill would lock clocks to UTC-5 year-round. No spring forward. No fall back. The Senate said yes in March 2022. The House has not voted. For everyone in the zone from Chicago to Mexico City, the practical effects depend on geography, and the western edge of the zone has the most to lose.

What does the Sunshine Protection Act do for Central Time?

The bill, introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in 2019 and reintroduced in later Congresses, does one thing: it makes daylight saving time permanent nationwide. The current alternation between Central Standard Time (CST, UTC-6) in winter and Central Daylight Time (CDT, UTC-5) in summer would end. The summer clock becomes the only clock.

Bipartisan co-sponsors have backed it. So have plenty of voters who hate changing clocks twice a year. But regional opposition is fierce, especially from lawmakers whose constituents would face the darkest winter mornings.

How permanent DST hits Central Time

Permanent DST fixes the Central Time Zone at UTC-5. That is the offset CDT uses now. CST (UTC-6) disappears.

The practical effect: clocks stay put in March and November. Sunrise and sunset times follow the summer pattern through December and January. The trade is straightforward. More evening light. Later winter sunrises. How late depends on where you sit inside the zone.

Chicago and the eastern half of the zone

Chicago sits in the eastern portion of Central Time. The shift is less extreme here than points west. Morning light arrives earlier than in Dallas or Amarillo, and the gain in evening light is real.

Dallas and the central belt

Dallas is farther west. Winter sunrises under permanent DST would push later than Chicago's. The evening benefit is smaller, and the morning penalty is larger. The same holds for Houston, San Antonio, and most of Texas.

The western edge: Amarillo, western Oklahoma, western Kansas

This is where opposition hardens. The westernmost counties of the zone already see late winter sunrises under standard time. Permanent DST would push sunrise later still. School children would walk to bus stops in darkness for weeks. Morning commutes in cities like Amarillo would start in the dark well past the winter solstice.

The legislative status: Senate passed, House stalled

The Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act by unanimous consent on March 15, 2022. The vote surprised even some senators. The House never took it up.

The bill was reintroduced in January 2023 for the 118th Congress and again in January 2025 for the 119th. Neither version advanced out of committee. House leadership has said repeatedly that the bill lacks consensus. No floor vote has been scheduled.

The sticking point is regional. Lawmakers from western states and the western edges of time zones argue that dark winter mornings are a safety risk. The Senate's voice vote, they point out, is not the same as a recorded roll-call vote.

Why supporters want permanent DST in Central Time

The case for locking the clock on CDT comes down to a few arguments.

More evening light in winter

The headline benefit. Under permanent DST, December sunsets in Chicago and across the zone would come later than they do under CST. That extra hour of evening daylight is popular with retailers, restaurants, and anyone who commutes home in the dark.

No more clock-change health risks

The March and November transitions are linked to spikes in heart attacks, traffic accidents, and workplace injuries. Sleep disruption is the culprit. Eliminating the change removes those risks.

Alignment with markets and broadcasting

Financial markets, national broadcast schedules, and business hours are anchored to Eastern and Central Time. Permanent DST keeps Central markets open later relative to the West Coast, which some traders argue boosts afternoon liquidity.

Consistency with Mexico's border region

Northern Mexican border municipalities that continue to observe US DST align with American schedules. Permanent DST would maintain that alignment year-round. Note the split, though: Mexico City is on permanent CST (UTC-6) and does not observe DST. Under permanent US DST, Mexico City and Chicago would be one hour apart all year, not just in summer.

Why opponents call it "dark winter mornings" for Central Time

The opposition is not about the principle of ending clock changes. It is about which clock we keep.

School children in the dark

Under permanent DST, the western portions of the Central Time Zone would see the latest sunrises. Children would wait for buses in darkness for weeks on either side of the winter solstice. Safety advocates argue standard time is better aligned with the school day.

Morning energy demand

Later sunrises mean more energy use for heating and lighting in the morning. The original rationale for DST was energy conservation. Opponents argue permanent DST flips that logic on its head in winter.

Circadian rhythm research

Sleep researchers tend to favor permanent standard time. Standard time aligns more closely with solar noon and human circadian rhythms. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has called for abolishing DST in favor of permanent standard time, not the other way around.

Which Central Time states have trigger laws

Several states have passed laws that would adopt permanent DST automatically if Congress authorizes it. These are conditional. They do nothing on their own.

• Arkansas (2021): Adopts permanent DST if Congress permits and a neighboring state does the same.
• Louisiana (2021): Adopts permanent DST if at least two other states in the region do.
• Missouri (2021): Adopts permanent DST if three neighboring states do.
• Oklahama (2021): Adopts permanent DST if at least four other states do.
• Texas (2023): Allows voters to decide on permanent DST, contingent on federal approval.

Minnesota passed a non-binding bill in 2023 calling for permanent DST. It is not a trigger law. No state can adopt permanent DST unilaterally. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 sets national DST rules and requires Congressional action to change them.

The alternative: permanent standard time

States have an option that requires no permission from Congress. The Uniform Time Act lets states exempt themselves from DST and observe standard time year-round. Arizona and Hawaii do this.

If Central Time states chose permanent standard time, they would stay on UTC-6 permanently. No clock changes. Ever.

The trade flips. Winter sunrises stay earlier. Summer sunsets come earlier too. In Chicago, June evenings would lose an hour of daylight compared to permanent DST. The sun would set before 8:00 p.m. even at the summer solstice. For some, that is a dealbreaker. For sleep researchers, it is the healthier choice.

When will the Sunshine Protection Act get a House vote?

The Sunshine Protection Act is stalled. Nothing changes until the House votes, and no vote is scheduled.

The next clock change for Central Time is Sunday, March 8, 2026. Clocks spring forward from CST to CDT at 2:00 a.m. local time. The following change is Sunday, November 1, 2026, when clocks fall back to CST.

For now, the zone keeps the schedule it has followed since 2007: roughly eight months of daylight saving time from mid-March to early November, and four months of standard time. The debate is not going away. But until the House acts, Central Time stays exactly as it is.