Ain’t no sunshine

State plan for all-year daylight saving time languishes.

The “Sunshine Protection Act” that went into effect in Florida on Sunday would make daylight saving time year-round in the state — but so far the required congressional approval to make it happen has languished in the U.S. Capitol halls.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, has filed not one but two bills to make the change permanent. But if Washington fails to act, Florida’s clocks will fall back in November just as they have for years.

Both bills have been referred to the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, where they have yet to be discussed. But Rubio’s office was hopeful that the bills would gain momentum as the calendar approaches November and the days begin to get shorter.

The first of the bills would simply certify Florida’s decision to move to year-round daylight saving time, approved overwhelmingly by lawmakers in March and signed by Gov. Rick Scott a few days later.

But if Congress approves the change for Flor-

ida alone, it would find itself isolated among Atlantic coast states.

During the winter, it would be one hour ahead of the rest of the Eastern Time Zone, with prime time TV starting an hour later.

When the Orlando Magic or Tampa Bay Lightning play on the west coast, their games could start as late as 11:30 p.m. or midnight in Florida thanks to what would be a four-hour time difference.

So Rubio’s second bill, also somewhat confusingly called the “Sunshine Protection Act,” would make daylight saving time year-round for the entire country, from Maine to Hawaii.

Depending on which bill is potentially approved, however, it wouldn’t be the first time that a state was at odds with the rest of its time zone or daylight saving time in general.

Arizona and Hawaii have never moved their clocks ahead one hour, and Indiana didn’t for decades until 2006.

In addition, because of the oil crisis of the 1970s, Congress temporarily made Daylight Saving Time yearround from 1973 to 1975.

Rubio’s office contends that a national, permanent daylight saving time would benefit the economy due to the removal of the annual drop in economic activity every year when clocks fall back, as well as the annual disruption to agricultural schedules.

Additional daylight at night would also increase physical fitness, citing a Journal of Environmental Psychology study that showed a 62 percent increase in pedestrian activity and a 38 percent increase in cycling activity due to more daylight.

Car crashes involving pedestrians are also reduced, Rubio’s office said, citing the American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of Safety Research.

But opponents pointed to the hazards posed by more darkness later in the morning.

The Florida PTA urged Scott to veto the state bill, warning that schoolchildren could be endangered at bus stops and walking to school in darkness.

Teens, with little driving experience, would also have to drive to high school for more days in the dark than they currently do.

Bob Eubanks, of Leesburg, whose son Jonathan was struck and killed at a bus stop in 1995, said in March that 300 schoolchildren have died or been injured at bus stops in Florida since then, an unofficial number not confirmed by the state.