Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Nov. 1, 2024 – It will soon be time to Fall back as the end of daylight savings time draws near.
States participating in DST turn their clock back an hour on the first Sunday of November every year, which will be at 2 a.m. on Nov. 3 this year across Arkansas and most of the United States, except for Hawaii and part of Arizona.
According to the TimeAndDate website, DST shifts the local sunrise and sunset times by one hour, resulting in more daylight. Therefore, the clocks spring forward (losing one hour) in the spring when DST starts, and they fall behind one hour (gaining one hour) when DST ends in the fall.
Despite efforts by 19 states, including Arkansas, to make a permanent standard time as the DST debate continues, and the time shift stays for now.
This is because any move to permanent DST requires national-level approval and recent permanent DST bills have stalled in the U.S. Congress. More recent efforts focus on a move to a permanent standard time instead as any move to a year-round standard time does not require national-level approval.
According to information on the Arkansas State Legislature website, in 2022, during the 94th General Assembly of Arkansas, Representative Johnny Rye tried to make DST permanent with House Bill 1039, which passed the House but did not in the Senate. Then in 2023, Representative Stephen Meeks tried to adopt a permanent standard time, which also failed.
So, for now, Arkansans will continue the DST shuffle of losing an hour of sleep each spring and regaining it in the fall.