(NEXSTAR) – There was bipartisan legislation, committee hearings, efforts from multiple states, and even presidential support, but the U.S. still observed the beginning and end of daylight saving time in 2025.

After all that legislative activity, it’s difficult not to wonder if 2026 will be the year the U.S. decides to lock the clocks.

At present, there are four bills that have been introduced in Congress related to daylight saving time: House and Senate versions of the Sunshine Protection Act, which calls for permanent daylight saving time, and two House bills that would give states the option to observe year-round daylight saving time (they can already opt into year-round standard time, as Arizona and Hawaii have).

The Senate tried to fast-track its version of the Sunshine Protection Act in October, only for the effort to be thwarted.

While issuing his objection to the bill, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) noted the complicated history of permanent daylight saving time in the U.S., the possible darkness of winter mornings in some states, and the health benefits of permanent standard time.

“I don’t like the biannual clock change any more than the rest of you do,” he said while delivering remarks on the Senate floor, adding later on that “not every human problem has a legislative solution.”

“Sometimes we have to live with an uneasy compromise between competing priorities and interests. That’s doubly true when considering how the movement of the stars and the planets affects the lives of 350 million souls spread across our vast continental nation.”

There are states in which year-round daylight saving time could be more enjoyable than others, though health experts believe we should lock our clocks to another permanent time.

Several states have passed legislation calling on Congress to end the practice outright. In more than a dozen, there stands legislation that would lock the clocks, should Congress approve it.

In 2025, Maine and Texas passed bills that would make daylight saving time permanent, pending federal approval or action. They joined 17 other states – Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon (Malheur County would be excluded), South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming – that have already passed similar bills. In some cases, the state’s legislation depends on other nearby states making the same decision.

Efforts to lock the clocks, either on year-round daylight saving time or standard time, were not as fruitful in other states this year.

In at least three states, however, lawmakers have already prefiled daylight saving time-related legislation for the upcoming session.

A bill in New Hampshire would make standard time permanent if Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island were to do so. A bill in Virginia and two bills in Missouri (one each in the House and Senate) would make daylight saving time permanent. Three other bills prefiled in Missouri would exempt the state from observing daylight saving time.

It’s too soon to say whether Congress will pass any of the bills that have been introduced, or whether any state-level laws will be enacted. Any legislation among the states that calls for permanent daylight saving time would likely be put on hold, as has already happened for the 19 states hoping to lock their clocks in that direction.

Without any quick action, daylight saving time will start again on Sunday, March 8 – the earliest possible date that we can “spring forward.”