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'Texas Time' Moves a Step Closer
'Texas Time' Moves a Step Closer

Newsweek

time23-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Newsweek

'Texas Time' Moves a Step Closer

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. On Thursday the Texas Legislature approved House Bill 1393, which would make daylight saving time permanent across the state abolishing the current requirement for biannual clock changes. The bill will now go before Governor Greg Abbott who can sign it into state law, though even if this happens the change wouldn't actually take effect without changes to superseding federal legislation. Newsweek contacted Governor Abbott for comment via email on Friday outside of regular office hours. Why It Matters The current twice-yearly clock changes across the U.S. are controversial and in April President Trump gave his support to a bill that would have introduced year-round daylight-saving time. The U.S. did introduce year-round daylight saving in the early 1970s following an energy crisis but this was swiftly abandoned amid public anger at going to work, and sending children to school, in the dark. What To Know Texas House Bill 1393 was passed by the Texas Senate on Thursday with 27 votes in favor and four against according to Dallas News reporter Phil Jankowski. The bill would introduce a new statewide "Texas time," making daylight saving permanent across Texas, but only "if the United States Congress enacts legislation that becomes law that authorizes the State of Texas to observe daylight saving time year-round." This would apply across the state, both to the vast majority of Texas which currently falls under the Central Time Zone and the far western section which is part of the Mountain Time Zone. Texas Senator Ted Cruz called for biannual time changes to be ended in April during a committee appearance. A stock photo shows the Texas state flag at River Oaks Country Club in Houston on April 5, 2024. A stock photo shows the Texas state flag at River Oaks Country Club in Houston on April 5, 2024. Aaron M. Sprecher/GETTY Currently 20 states have passed laws that would abolish clock changes if they are given permission to do so by the federal government. Clock changes became a standard feature across the U.S. with the passage of the Uniform Time Act in 1966, though Hawaii and most of Arizona are exempt from observing daylight saving time. In 2022 the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would have made daylight saving time permanent, but this stalled in the House. In a post on his Truth Social website in December 2024 then-president elect Trump said: "The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation." What Time Zones Does Texas Have? Most of Texas, including the major cities of Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, are currently part of the Central Time Zone. However the western counties of El Paso and Hudspeth form part of the Mountain Time Zone. What People Are Saying Texas House Bill 1393 says: "This state, acting as authorized under federal law, shall observe daylight saving time year-round. This subsection applies to both the portion of this state using central standard time as the official standard time and the portion of this state using mountain standard time as the official standard time." Senator Paul Bettencourt, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said according to The Texas Tribune: "This is effectively a trigger bill waiting for change with the federal government." What Happens Next It remains to be seen whether Governor Abbott will sign House Bill 1393 into Texas law. Even if he does, its provisions won't take effect without changes to federal legislation.

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