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ATLANTA — Clocks will fall back an hour at 2 a.m. Nov. 6 but many states are hopeful that it will be the last time having to change clocks twice a year for daylight saving time.

Time moves forward an hour for DST on the second Sunday in March each year. Time is moved back an hour on the first Sunday in November each year. Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that don’t observe DST.  

Alabama and Georgia are among the nearly 20 states that have passed supporting legislation to do away with the time change and make what’s now called daylight saving time permanent.  

In Georgia, both state chambers agreed to SB 100 in 2021, which supports making daylight saving time year-round in Georgia. Nearly 110 of 180 state representatives and 45 of 56 state senators voted in favor of it.

In Alabama, a similar measure, SB 388, received near-unanimous support from lawmakers in 2021.

The bill states that if Congress amends the U.S. Code “to authorize states to observe Daylight Saving Time year-round, the State of Alabama shall adopt Daylight Saving Time as the year-round standard of time for the entire state and all of its political subdivisions.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Florida are among neighboring states that have also approved legislation supporting the change. But efforts to federally authorize states to move to a permanent time year-round have stalled in Congress.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed in the U.S. Senate in March but still awaits a House vote. The bill would make daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time; states with areas exempt from daylight saving time would be able to choose the standard time for their areas.

If the Act is ultimately signed into law by President Joe Biden, the permanent daylight saving time would take effect Nov. 5, 2023, meaning when clocks are set forward in March it would remain permanently. The change is predicted to result in darker winter mornings.  

DST dates back to the early 1900s as a way for people to make more use of daylight. It was used as military rationale in many countries to minimize the use of artificial lighting and save fuel for the war efforts, according to timeanddate.com.

Some studies have shown that the twice a year time change — which allows for provides for more light in the evening — benefits the economy because more people shop and there is less need for electricity for light in the evenings. Studies have also shown that more evening sunlight throughout the year reduces crime and promotes more physical activity.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve watched youth sporting events be called in the middle or near the end of the game, before it’s actually concluded, because there’s not enough lights,” said U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who sponsored the Sunshine Protection Act. “That’s one of the practical reasons why (some support DST). If you look at the way we live in this country, you want to have the ability to spend more time in the evenings outdoors. Not just to enjoy the outdoors, but to make sporting and outdoor activities available for people at a time when, frankly, we’re losing an hour, an hour-and-a-half in some parts of the country, because of [the time change].”

Like Rubio, opponents of DST say the time change negatively affects sleep patterns and health.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and other sleep organizations have endorsed the idea of a permanent, fixed time savings, citing its benefits to improved health and reduced safety risks.

“The one-hour time shift in the spring results in less exposure to light in the morning and greater exposure to evening light,” AASM stated in its position statement. “In the presence of continuing social or occupational demands in early morning hours, this delay results in sleep loss and resultant sleep debt in addition to circadian misalignment. Traffic accidents increase in the first few days after the change from standard time to DST with an increase in fatal crashes of up to 6% in the United States.”

ATLANTA – Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King is urging all Georgians to change their smoke alarm batteries this weekend when they change their clocks to mark the end of Daylight Savings Time.

“Smoke alarms protect your lives and belongings by warning when there might be a fire in your home or place of work,” King said in a press release Wednesday. “However, a smoke alarm’s life-saving impact goes away when it runs out of batteries. Fire safety experts advise that smoke alarm batteries should be changed twice per year, and the end of Daylight Savings Times is the perfect opportunity to replace the batteries in our smoke alarms.”

Smoke alarm batteries can be the difference between life and death for too many Georgians. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the death rate in homes without functioning smoke alarms was more than twice as high compared to homes with working smoke alarms between 2014 and 2018.

King also encourages Georgians to test and clean dust from their smoke alarms monthly and to practice an escape plan in case their home is ever impacted by a fire. More information on fire safety can be obtained from King’s office, the U.S. Fire Administration, the American Red Cross, or your local fire station.

Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, when all clocks are set backward one hour.