Trump throws support behind move to make daylight saving time ‘permanent’

President Donald Trump gave his support Monday to a growing call to make daylight saving time, which began this weekend, extend year-round.

“Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!” the president said in a tweet.

Currently, daylight saving time begins after the second Sunday in March and runs until the first Sunday in November. More than two dozen states considered measures to extend DST in recent years. Last year, Florida became the first state to approve moving to year-round DST, and California may soon follow suit after voters there approved a proposition to adopt permanent DST in the 2018 midterm elections.

Although the current law allows states to opt out of DST – which, Arizona and Hawaii have done – extending it would require federal action. On Wednesday, Florida’s Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., re-introduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make DST permanent nationwide.

“I was glad to sign legislation as Governor to continue Daylight Saving Time year-round for Floridians, and now join Senator Rubio to lead this effort in Congress,” Scott said in a statement.

The Department of Transportation is responsible for oversight of the nation’s time zones. The last major change to DST occurred when President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended it beginning in 2007. Prior to that, DST ran from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.

Read more at USA Today.

Contributing: The Associated Press