Washington state does not currently use permanent Daylight Saving Time primarily due to federal law requirements. While Washington passed a state law to adopt permanent daylight saving time, implementing this change requires approval from the U.S. Congress because only Congress can authorize year-round DST under the Uniform Time Act. Without this approval, Washington continues to observe the biannual clock change but is considering switching to permanent standard time, which states can enact on their own without congressional approval. This shift to permanent standard time is favored by many health experts as it better aligns with natural circadian rhythms.
Along with Washington, Oregon has also pursued similar legislation, aiming for permanent standard time to avoid the twice-yearly clock changes, marking them as states actively trying to exit the daylight saving time switching cycle.
The core reason, then, is that federal law prevents states from unilaterally adopting permanent daylight saving time, unlike permanent standard time, which states like Washington can implement independently.
The other U.S. state that does not observe Daylight Saving Time at all, by long-standing exemption, is Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation). Hawaii also does not observe it, but the most commonly mentioned alongside Washington in recent legislative efforts for exemption or permanent standard time is Oregon. Arizona and Hawaii do not switch times due to their unique circumstances of latitude and daylight patterns.
- Washington wants to stop the time changes and lean toward permanent standard time because federal law allows this without Congress.
- Washington cannot unilaterally adopt permanent daylight saving time without Congressional approval.
- Along with Washington, Oregon is another notable state aiming for permanent standard time.
- Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time at all for different longstanding reasons.
This is the simple reason Washington and Oregon do not use daylight saving time year-round currently—they await federal authorization for DST or opt for standard time which doesn’t require Congress.
Sources
(https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/01/23/daylight-saving-debate-washington-seattle)
(https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/daylight-saving-time-even-the-cows-dont-like-it-says-state-senator-trying-to-eliminate-it/)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_in_the_United_States)
(https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/18debnv/new_bill_would_end_washingtons_twiceyearly_time/)
(https://www.ncsl.org/transportation/daylight-saving-time-state-legislation)
