- Daylight Saving Time ends early Sunday morning, meaning people need to set their clocks back by one hour
- The United States Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent and end biannual time changes — but it stalled in the House
- Both chambers introduced the bill again in 2023, but have yet to pass it
- Wisconsin state legislators are not currently considering a bill to make either Daylight Saving Time or standard time permanent
- The Green Bay Metro Fire Department and Brown County Public Health remind people that changing clocks is a good opportunity to also check the batteries on smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
- Video shows Green Bay residents voicing their opinions about Daylight Saving Time
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Falling back could soon be a thing of the past. The senate unanimously voted to pass a bill last year to make daylight saving time permanent, but it got stalled in the house. Both chambers of Congress are considering the measure once again this year. I'm Karl Winter, and I asked people here in downtown Green Bay about moving away from Daylight Saving. The general consensus was yes — no more changing the clocks twice a year.
"Just getting it so dark, so soon — it's almost depressing," Carissa Powell said.
"It just gets depressing, losing light so soon — at 4:30, as early as 4:30," Srivatsan Sriraman said.
Those people would prefer the permanent Daylight Saving Time, meaning more daylight in the evening than in the morning. But Steve Bellmore disagrees, saying he likes the changes.
"For hunting reasons," Bellmore said. "Love when the time changes; we can get out earlier in the say and get our day going."
People with kids are on the other side, saying the changes are tough, and more darkness at night is dangerous.
"When you're trying to tell someone who doesn't have an internal clock yet, that suddenly 5 isn't 5, they have a hard time with it," Amanda Vincent said.
"When you know your children are out, and they gotta come home," Karen Smalley said. "I don't like mine traveling at night."
An end to Daylight Saving is also a good time for the local health officials to remind you to check carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in your home.
"We have Thanksgiving that's a couple weeks away," said Shauna Walesh, Green Bay Fire's Life Safety Educator. "And that is the number one holiday for cooking-related fires.
Green Bay Fire and Brown County Public Health say it's as good a time as any to check batteries and avoid a scary holiday incident.
"When you're walking around your home and checking your clocks, press the test button," Walesh said. "And if you have batteries, change them out."
Separate from the United States Congress, Wisconsin is not one of the 24 states with legislation in the works to end the time changes, so you do still need to remember to set your clocks back by one hour on Saturday night.
