x
Breaking News
More () »

Why is daylight saving time still happening in Georgia in 2023?

Two years ago, Georgia passed a law to permanently stay in daylight saving time. Here's why you're still changing your clocks.

ATLANTA — It's that time to spring forward once again. Daylight saving time will make yet another appearance this year which means losing another hour of sleep this weekend.

Come 1:59 a.m. on Sunday morning (March 12), we'll skip right past the 2 a.m. hour to 3 a.m. and the timekeeping practice from World War I will be complete.

Two years ago, Gov. Brian Kemp passed a law to permanently stay in daylight saving time. So you might be asking, why are you still changing your clocks yet again?

Georgia is just one of almost all 50 states that attempted to keep the time practice permanent. 

The only way for the daylight saving time to be kept permanent is left in the hands of Congress. Here's how this works.

Why are we still waiting on Congress to keep daylight saving time permanent?  

As mentioned above, Georgia's not alone in trying to do away with these yearly time-change rituals. A number of states want to adopt permanent daylight saving time, but it can't happen until Congress amends the Uniform Time Act.

The Uniform Time Act was adopted in 1966, basically, to stop states from doing their own daylight saving time schedules.

The trick with the Uniform Time Act is states don't have to observe daylight saving time - and two states, Arizona and Hawaii, don't, instead staying on the permanent "fall back" timeline.

But you can't go in the opposite direction - staying permanently on daylight saving time an hour ahead - without Congress' blessing. 

And until Congress changes the law, Georgia's law to stay on daylight saving time will basically be nothing more than a symbolic protest against losing an hour of sleep once every March.

   

Before You Leave, Check This Out