Daylight saving time: When will clocks spring forward in Ohio?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Clocks are skipping an hour in early March for the beginning of daylight saving time, possibly marking one of the last times clocks spring forward in the U.S.

Daylight saving begins at 2 a.m. on March 9, beginning the annual period when U.S. clocks "spring forward" an hour in March and "fall back" in November. Yes, this means we lose an hour of sleep that Sunday when the clock skips from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.

While Ohio is among more than two dozen states that have previously pushed to observe daylight saving permanently, the Buckeye State's effort is curtailed until federal law changes. Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, states can change to standard time but not daylight saving, which requires a change to federal law to transition to perpetual daylight saving.

That's why Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) reintroduced bipartisan legislation earlier this year to keep time permanently "forward," meaning clocks would not be set back at the end of fall. Named the "Sunshine Protection Act," the bill's passage would mean later sunsets in the winter but also later sunrises. For example, the sun rises around 7:15 a.m. and sets around 4:30 p.m. on the first day of winter in New York. The act would change sunrise to 8:15 a.m. and sunset to 5:30 p.m.

"I hear from Americans constantly that they are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year -- it's an unnecessary, decades-old practice that's more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them," said Scott in a release. "I'm excited to have President Trump back in the White House and fully on board to lock the clock so we can get this good bill passed and make this common-sense change."

Ohio's House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill in December 2023 to urge the U.S. Congress to pass a previous version of the Sunshine Protection Act. The measure was under consideration in Ohio's Senate, but only received one hearing last June and never passed out of the General Government Committee.

Reps. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) and Bob Peterson (R-Sabina), the bill's primary sponsors, had argued the U.S. no longer needs the biannual tradition of changing clocks, pointing to studies that say moving clocks in the spring and fall causes a number of work, school, safety and sleep-related issues.

"Continuing to change the time results in a higher number of cardiac issues and strokes and prolonged seasonal depression," Creech said. "A recent study revealed that sleep loss, even for as little as one hour, can decrease a child's quality of life, showing significant negative impacts on the children’s physical well-being as well as their ability to cope with the school environment."

However, Jay Pea, president of the nonprofit Save Standard Time, said in a previous hearing that daylight saving would delay Ohio's sunrise past 8 a.m. for more than four months, sometimes as late as 9:06 a.m., and noted Ohio rejected an effort in 1974 to enact daylight saving permanently. Rather, Pea advocates for extending standard time to the entire year.

"Permanent standard time would protect start times for schoolchildren and essential workers by letting most sleep naturally past dawn year-round. Its benefits to circadian health would improve immunity, longevity, mood, alertness, and performance in school, sports, and work," Pea said. "Standard time is the natural clock, set to the sun."