Yes, Washingtonians will still need to turn their clocks back an hour on Nov. 1, despite Washington lawmakers approving permanent Daylight Saving Time last year.
That’s because Washington can't actually do away with standard time unless Congress gives approval. Federal law allows states to opt out of Daylight Saving Time, but it doesn’t allow states to do the opposite. Hawaii and Arizona both operate on standard time year-round.
State Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, who was the prime sponsor of Washington's legislation, said last year there was "wide agreement" on the legislation and has been pushing for Congress to act since it was approved, but so far nothing has happened.
There's three avenues that could allow Washington to observe permanent Daylight Saving Time: Congress could pass a bill allowing states like Washington to make the change, Congress could pass a law making the change to every state at once, or U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao could authorize the change on her own.
Supporters of year-round Daylight Saving Time argue that switching clocks negatively impacts our health, and extra hours of daylight in the evenings would reduce deadly crashes and crime.
If Washington were to move to Daylight Saving Time year-round, we would stay on the same time we currently observe from March through November. We would keep later sunsets in the summer, but the change would be more noticed in the winter months. On the Winter Solstice, the sun wouldn’t rise until 8:54 a.m., and it would set at 5:20 p.m.
But, until Congress gives approval, plan to fall back and spring forward as usual.
This year, Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 1.