People react to bill that could make Daylight Saving Time permanent

A bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent passes in the U.S. Senate unanimously. If it passes in the House and is signed by the President, this could mean more sunlight at the end of the day all year long. But not everyone sees this as a positive.

Seas The Day in Naples is all aboard with making Daylight Saving Time permanent. Greg Dyer works with Seas The Day. “I can’t see it anything but helping us,” said Dyer.

Most welcome the idea of an extra hour of sunlight in the Sunshine State. “There’s nothing better than getting out in Southwest Florida for a Sunset tour,” Dyer said.

Florida has a tourism-driven economy. So, that’s one of the reasons Florida Senator Marco Rubio had pushed to lock in our clocks.

Dyer believes Seas The Day could also see an uptick in business. “We’re able to put in more tours to get more people down here visiting from all across the country,” said Dyer.

But that bill could be a double-edged sword when it comes to safety. bob Pollokoff lives in Naples. “It’s just not a good idea to have young kids at a bus stop early in the morning when it’s dark. First of all, they have to get to the bus stop so maybe walking,” said Pollokoff.

Parents and grandparents are concerned about children’s safety.

But some, like FGCU assistant professor of management Joseph Liu, say the pros outweigh the cons. “This impacts everyone in the U.S. in terms of workers, in terms of likely students,” Liu said. “And so kind of changing twice a year, unless there’s a really compelling reason that we can see a lot of benefit, then it makes sense to me that we should probably choose one schedule and kind of stick with it.”

So, is now the time?

The Sunshine Protection Act is headed to the House of Representatives. If passed, there will be no time changes starting November 2023.