Time warp
This week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent in 2023, putting an end to the twice-a-year ritual of having to change all the clocks in your house.
The most common reaction on Capitol Hill: surprise.
“I didn’t even know it passed,” said Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall.
“I was surprised,” said Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran. “I was surprised to know it was coming up.”
“I don’t know anything about that bill,” said Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt. When he was told it passed he said, “Well good!”
The bill surprised so many senators because of the Senate process used to pass it.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got the bill through Congress by using a process called unanimous consent. It’s a tool the Senate uses to expedite votes on uncontroversial measures and procedural motions to speed things up. It saves the Senate from having to go through their required roll call vote, which can take an hour as members filter in and out of the chamber from their offices to register their vote in person. If any member objects to unanimous consent, the bill would have to go through its normal process and receive a formal vote.
On Tuesday, Rubio made a short speech about daylight saving time, asked for his bill to pass with unanimous consent and no one objected. That granted it quick passage.
Daylight saving time would mean making the time we’re currently in permanent, when the sun stays up later in the evening. Few parts of the country would ever see the sun set before 5 p.m.
“I love it,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. “I think it passed unanimously and nobody likes it to get dark at 5 o’clock.”
Adding time to the evening means taking away time from the morning. In the winter months, many parts of the country wouldn’t see the sun rise before 8 a.m.
Standard time does the opposite, putting more sun in the morning and less in the evening.
The country has tried this experiment before. In 1973, Congress passed a bill to move the U.S. into daylight saving time for two years. People hated it. Polling showed that 79% of people approved to the bill when it passed in December and by February only 42% approved, according to a New York Times article at the time.
Less than a year into the switch, then Kansas Sen. Bob Dole introduced an amendment in the Senate to approve a House-passed bill switching to standard time for four months of the year — between October and February. It was approved in the Senate with a voice vote.
This time around, another Kansas senator questioned whether Rubio made the correct choice in keeping the sun up later into the evening.
“I think Kansans would be interested in something that didn’t change,” Moran said. “The question is, which one of those times do you prefer to be the one that’s constant and I intend to have those conversations with Kansans. The Senate may have passed a bill that chose right, that daylight saving time is the one we want to stay with, but I don’t know that till I have more input from folks at home.”
The 2022 version of the bill doesn’t change anything yet. It still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by the president before people can stop forgetting to fix the time on the oven.
More from Missouri
Gridlock in the Missouri Senate as conservatives push for a more aggressive gerrymander of Kansas City’s congressional district has made Missouri one of just four states across the country that has not approved their new congressional maps. Two lawsuits are asking the courts to intervene, putting pressure on Republicans to agree or hand over the map drawing to Judges.
Here are headlines from across the state:
Missouri is one of four states without new congressional maps, Jonathan Shorman
- A shortage of abuse and neglect investigators in MO is putting children at risk, Laura Bauer and Judy L. Thomas
- Missouri’s senate is being slowed down by infighting. Here’s why it matters, Jonathan Shorman
Two workers on why they left Missouri’s child welfare agency, Judy L. Thomas and Laura Bauer
Missouri men get probation for their role in Capitol riot, Judy L. Thomas
And across Kansas
Days after a shooting at Olathe East High School, the Kansas State Rifle Association pushed legislation that would ensure that Kansas schools only allow an NRA-approved gun training program if they want to teach students about gun safety. Proponents say it will help reduce accidental gun deaths. A 2004 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found the program was ineffective.
Kansas Senate is considering NRA-approved gun training in schools, Katie Bernard
- New Kansas legislative maps will keep close races in Johnson County, Katie Bernard
- Kansas Senators traveling to Poland and Germany, Daniel Desrochers
Sharice Davids is attempting to ward off criticism over high gas prices, Daniel Desrochers
- Roger Marshall gave members of the trucker convoy a tour of the U.S. Capitol, Daniel Desrochers
The latest from Kansas City
In Kansas City …
Kansas City unveiled a draft of its new climate protection and resilience plan, Anna Spoerre
- Meet the man looking for solutions on Kansas City’s homeless crisis, Anna Spoerre
- A KC barbecue joint is steering people away from the brisket and the burnt ends, Kevin Hardy
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@mcclatchydc.com.
Odds and ends
Blocked nomination
Last week, I wrote about how Missouri and Kansas senators were blocking some of President Joe Biden’s nominees. This week Sarah Bloom Raskin, one of the nominees blocked by Sen. Jerry Moran, withdrew her name from consideration to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Directors after West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said he wouldn’t support her.
Moran opposed her nomination because of comments she made about how climate change affects financial markets. He believed she wanted to use a position on the Federal Reserve to limit the oil and gas industry and said she was not straightforward in answering questions about her positions on the issue.
“Addressing the transition of the economy as it grapples with the effects of climate change is critical to the future of American prosperity,” Raskin wrote in a letter to Biden withdrawing her name. “I stand with the vast majority of financial regulators and central banks in the United States and abroad recognizing these fact.”
Violence Against Women Act
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids went to the White House to watch President Joe Biden sign the Violence Against Women Act.
This year Congress reauthorized the act for the first time since 2013. The act was part of a larger $1.5 trillion government spending bill Biden signed earlier this week. The act reauthorizes grant programs through 2027 and expands the special jurisdiction of tribal courts to allow them to prosecute non-Native perpetrators of sexual assault, child abuse, stalking, sex trafficking and assaults on tribal law enforcement on tribal lands.
It also authorizes resources to LGBTQ survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking for the first time.
“After three years of working across the aisle to modernize and renew the Violence Against Women Act, of working to protect survivors and ensure their path to justice —it’s an honor to see this bill signed into law today,” Davids said. “And with comprehensive measures that empower Tribes, we are finally starting to shine a light on the disproportionate levels of violence against Native women.”
Marshall Madness
Sen. Roger Marshall walked through the Senate basement on Tuesday wearing white sneakers and a basketball tie and carrying a University of Kansas Jayhawks jersey. Shortly after, one of his staffers walked through carrying a poster with the March Madness Men’s Tournament bracket.
The items were props for a video he made with with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema where they filled out their brackets together and talked about teams in the tournament. Marshall wore the jersey for the video and held a basketball the whole time.
Marshall’s Final Four are Duke, Baylor, Arizona and Kansas. Marshall, of course, has Kansas beating Arizona to advance to the final, where he has them winning their sixth NCAA tournament. This University of Arizona alum hopes he’s wrong.
Happy Friday
Here is an article that is not about a potato. Maybe make yourself a Manhattan this weekend. Here’s a song by St. Vincent for the road.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
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For more politics news, follow @KatieJ_Bernard, @drdesrochers, @jonshorman and @annaspoerre.
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