COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohioans are scheduled to turn their clocks back one hour on Nov. 1, 2026, as the state’s debate over year-round timekeeping continues in Columbus and across the state. The U.S. House approved the Sunshine Protection Act in July. The measure would require year-round daylight saving time nationwide, while allowing states to opt out before it took effect. The U.S. Senate has not yet approved the bill, meaning Ohio is still expected to resume daylight saving time on March 14, 2027. Federal law currently permits states to observe permanent standard time but does not allow them to adopt permanent daylight saving time. That restriction is part of the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Ohio has not enacted a so-called trigger law that would automatically adopt permanent daylight saving time if Congress changes the rules. Two nonbinding measures — Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 and House Concurrent Resolution 10 — express support for keeping daylight saving time year-round, but neither would change Ohio law. The competing proposal is permanent standard time, which would keep clocks aligned with the sun throughout the year. Save Standard Time, an Arizona-based nonprofit, is urging Ohio residents to oppose the two resolutions and ask lawmakers to introduce legislation establishing permanent standard time instead. Jay Pea, the group’s president, told Ohio lawmakers at a 2023 hearing that permanent daylight saving time could push Ohio sunrises past 8 a.m. for more than four months of the year, with some mornings as late as 9:06 a.m. Pea said standard time would better protect the schedules and health of students and early-shift workers. “Permanent standard time would protect start times for schoolchildren and essential workers by letting most sleep naturally past dawn year-round,” Pea said. He also argued that standard time could benefit sleep, mood, alertness and performance. For Columbus, the practical effect of permanent standard time would be earlier daylight in the morning and earlier darkness in the afternoon during the seasons that currently use daylight saving time. Winter sunrise and sunset times would be largely unchanged because Ohio already uses standard time then. On Oct. 31, the sun would rise in Columbus at about 6:59 a.m. under permanent standard time instead of 7:59 a.m. under daylight saving time. Sunset would move from 6:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The shift would be similar in spring. On March 20, 2027, Columbus would see sunrise at approximately 6:35 a.m. and sunset at 6:43 p.m. under permanent standard time, compared with 7:35 a.m. and 7:43 p.m. under daylight saving time. The largest differences would come in summer. On June 21, 2027, sunrise in Columbus would occur around 5:03 a.m. under permanent standard time, rather than 6:03 a.m. Sunset would arrive at about 8:04 p.m., an hour earlier than the 9:04 p.m. sunset under daylight saving time. Similar changes would affect communities throughout central Ohio, including Delaware, Lancaster, Newark, London, Circleville and Marysville. The exact sunrise and sunset times would vary slightly by location. Unless Congress acts, Ohio’s existing schedule remains in place: clocks will fall back at 2 a.m. Nov. 1, 2026, and move forward again at 2 a.m. March 14, 2027. The state’s resolutions and the broader debate will determine whether lawmakers pursue a permanent alternative beyond the current federal framework.