Time to "fall back" as daylight saving time ends for 2023

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Laka Tahoe has many seasonal markers, we're lucky that way. Winter, spring, summer, and fall are distinct periods of time (on average) and one more marker is the beginning and end of daylight saving time.

On Sunday, November 5, the clocks turn back one hour to get us back to standard time.

In 2018, Californians voted overwhelmingly to allow daylight saving time to be year-round and not have the "fall back" and "spring forward" time changes each year.

So why do we still have to go through this?

The Legislature must approve that change by a two-thirds vote and federal law must be changed. The vote tells the lawmakers that Californians support it, but it wasn't the end of it. Other states are on the same page as Californians, and two states, Hawaii and Arizona, only have one time (standard time) and never go through the seasonal change.

The official argument that helped write the legislation stated that heart attack risk climbs by 10 percent in the two days after a time change and stroke risk increases by eight percent. The time change disrupts sleep and increases electricity use. It also causes people to use more fuel and comes with a price tag of $434 million.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced the Sunshine Protection Act a year ago, but it hasn't made it through all levels yet. If it were to pass we would no longer be “falling back” and the country would be on year-long daylight saving time.

Our bodies have issues with time change. Changing to daylight saving time can create short-term health problems — sleep issues, fatigue, and changes in blood pressure, much like prolonged jet lag. It can take five to seven days to adjust to daylight saving time.