TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In March, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill that will let Florida remain on daylight saving time year round.
The bill was set to take effect July 1, 2018, when a majority of the bills approved in the 2018 legislative session become law. However, the bill has not been approved by Congress at this time, Florida Legislature officials tell ABC Action News.
The United States Congress, not the Florida Legislature, gets the final say on when, or if, HB 1013 will become law in the Sunshine State.
The bill has to be passed by Congress because if approved, Florida would not always remain on the same time schedule as the rest of the Eastern United States time zone. The same issue would apply to Northwest Florida, which is currently in the Central time zone.
Under federal law, there are only two ways in which an area in the United States can be moved from one time zone to another. One of which states that Congress may enact a statute changing the time zone.
The "Sunshine Protection Act," would make Florida stay on daylight saving time. So when the rest of the Eastern United States would set their clocks back in the fall, Florida wouldn’t, leaving it with more sunshine in the evening during the winter.
There is still no timeframe on when Congress will address this bill, so for now, Floridians can keep changing their clocks accordingly.
