People across America will turn their clocks forward Sunday marking the start of Daylight Saving Time and the continuance of a not-so-new debate.

It was originally put in place to conserve the fuel needed to produce electric power; the U.S. adopted it in 1918.

Today, most states still observe the practice, with the exceptions of Hawaii and Arizona and a number of U.S. territories. 

And due to the nature of the laws that initially put daylight saving in place, any state wishing to change how they operate must get approval from the federal government.

Indiana, for example, has had a long series of policy changes in regards to daylight saving.

After switching back and forth several times throughout the years, the state government made it optional, so some counties observe daylight saving while others do not.

In 2019, 54 percent of Americans supported the concept of ending daylight saving in all states and territories. 

In November 2019, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill 533, which proposed that “daylight savings time shall be the year-round standard time of the entire State.”

The bill is still in the process of being examined by the House, which may take some time. 

Despite the national consensus that ending daylight saving would be a good thing, the idea of ending it in just one state has raised some concerns, especially for those who live near the borders of other states. 

Grace Osborn, junior biology major, was worried that it might be an issue for the people in her home town.

“It might affect access to medical care in my area,” Osborn said, explaining how the closest hospital to her home is in Indiana. 

In big cities like Chicago and Louisville, many residents commute out of the state for work each day and need to be able to get there on time. 

Most Indiana counties on the Illinois border still observe daylight saving, and they are in the Eastern time zone while Illinois is on Central time. 

With that time difference of an hour, the additional difference of daylight saving would mean that there was a two hour time discrepancy. 

This would make getting to work and other appointments difficult as people would have to get ready so many hours earlier. 

However, many people do still think that leaving daylight saving behind is a good choice. 

Elizabeth Taylor can be reached at 581-2812 or egtaylor2@eiu.edu.