A newly filed bill in Congress is proposing a different solution to the long-running daylight saving time debate, calling for clocks to move ahead by 30 minutes permanently rather than by a full hour.

The Daylight Act of 2026, introduced earlier this month by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), would shift clocks forward by half an hour from their current setting and eliminate the twice-a-year time changes altogether.

Sleep specialists caution that even a 30-minute adjustment could carry health consequences, though they acknowledge it would be less disruptive than a full-hour change. Experts say that any permanent move forward may still negatively affect long-term well-being.

“Medically, a half hour delay would be less harmful than a full hour delay of permanent daylight saving time and would have the benefit of ending the biannual change,” Dr. Karin Johnson, spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and co-chair of the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time, told Nexstar via email.

Still, Johnson noted that such a change would reduce exposure to morning sunlight, which researchers generally consider beneficial. She also warned that a half-hour system could complicate daily scheduling. Permanent standard time would prevent “the confusion of trying to sync schedules that are offset by a half hour,” she said.

Jay Pea, president of the nonprofit Save Standard Time, agreed, emphasizing that “the design of Standard Time (when aligned properly to longitude) is to minimize misalignment between clocks and the sun to within 30 minutes or fewer.”

Pea also raised concerns about logistical challenges, pointing to the “unintended complications for technology, transportation, and business.”

Those complications would be particularly significant for international coordination. Time zones function on a global scale, not just within the United States. For instance, when it is 3 p.m. in New York City, it is also 3 p.m. in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Lima, Peru.

Although regions may use different names for their time zones — Eastern Time in New York and Quebec, Peru Time in Lima — they are structured according to their offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the worldwide 24-hour clock system often referred to as Zulu time, as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Eastern Time and Peru Time operate at -5 UTC, meaning they are five hours behind Greenwich, near London, where the modern time zone system was established in the 19th century.

Most time zones differ by whole hours — Central Time is one hour behind Eastern Time, for example — though there are exceptions. Afghanistan follows Afghanistan Time, which is +4.5 UTC. When it is 3 p.m. in New York, it is 12:30 a.m. in Kabul. Iran uses a time zone one hour behind Afghanistan, making it 11:30 p.m. there when it is 3 p.m. in New York.

“I appreciate the congressman’s willingness to explore alternatives to [permanent daylight saving time]. However, [permanent standard time] remains both the simplest solution and the true compromise between ‘fast’ and ‘slow time,’ as supported by health science, historical precedence, and first principles,” Pea said, in part, in a statement to Nexstar.

Other Florida lawmakers are pushing a different approach through the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide. If enacted, clocks would move forward in March and remain unchanged throughout the year.

Steube has previously voiced support for permanent daylight saving time. Last year, he wrote on X that “it’s time to end this pointless ritual.” In November, he submitted a discharge petition seeking to bring the House version of the Sunshine Protection Act to the floor for a vote.

The Senate attempted to expedite its own version of the Sunshine Protection Act last October, but the effort ultimately stalled.

Steube’s office did not respond to Nexstar’s inquiry for comment prior to publication.

As of Tuesday, the Daylight Act of 2026 remains under review in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

A separate measure also titled the Daylight Act, introduced by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT), has likewise been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That proposal would give individual states the authority to observe daylight saving time year-round.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in multiple states are weighing their own proposals related to daylight saving time during the current legislative session.