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Tired Of Setting Your Clock Forward In Spring? Lawmakers Consider Keeping Daylight Saving Time Year-Round

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Are you tired of setting your clock forward in spring and back in the fall? Would you like to have more daylight after work in the winter months? Once again, the move is on to keep daylight savings time permanent and the charge is being led by Florida's own Senator Marco Rubio.

At 2 a.m. Sunday, the clocks will 'spring forward' one hour. We will lose an hour of sleep, but in exchange, we will get to enjoy more light in the evening.

Scott Yates, a man who runs a blog dedicated to preserving daylight-saving time all-year-round, says "All the other states, including Florida would be in what we think of as the summertime that would become the new time and no more changing the clock."

Yates is a crusader who has taken his "lock the clock" campaign to state capitals across the nation and has a potent ally in Senator Rubio.

Yates says in a tweet, "There are a lot of people that support the locking in permanent daylight saving time, that is the best option. The is no Republican or Democratic version. We have blue and red states, we have people trying to make this happen."

In 2018, Florida passed legislation to keep daylight savings time year-round, but a federal statute is required for the state to enact the change.

Senator Rubio introduced congressional legislation.

"He had a bill three years ago and that did not go anywhere. He had a bill in the last session and it got huge support, co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle," said Yates.

But a gridlocked US Senate and a reluctant committee chairman rejected the measure.

But hope runs eternal and Rubio is back this week issuing this statement: "The call to end the antiquated practice of clock changing is gaining momentum throughout the nation. Studies have shown many benefits of a year-round daylight saving time, which is why the Florida Legislature voted to make it permanent in 2018. I'm proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill to make daylight saving time permanent."

Proponents cite economic and health reasons for making daylight savings permanent. They claim that an hour of lost sleep impacts individuals for days.

"The chance of the clock is deadly and the research about locking the clock is just overwhelming. It is a little depressing when heart attacks go up, work-place and traffic accidents. The list goes on and on," said Yates.

Not everyone is on board.

Some educators and parents fear the danger of darker mornings when kids are going to school.

Not everyone believes the change has an impact on health.

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