readers are reminded that this Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 2 a.m. the entire state of Oklahoma, and many other states, will be moving their clocks forward one hour, to 3 a.m.

There are many names for this time change, including Daylight Saving( s) Time, Summer Time, Spring Forward, and some names that are best left unprinted.

We are currently scheduled to reclaim this lost hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.

Seasonal time change is not new. Several ancient societies adopted seasonal changes in an attempt to make better use of daylight. Although Ben Franklin is sometimes given credit/blame for bringing daylights savings time to the United States, that is a false rumor. What actually occurred is, during the time Franklin was living in Paris, he was once awakened by a loud noise at 6 a.m. and was surprised to see that the sun was already up. He wrote a satirical article for a Paris newspaper commenting on how much money Parisians could save on candles and lamp oil if they woke up with the sun, but it was all a joke.

Daylight Savings Time was first implemented in the United Stated in 1918 as an effort to conserve energy during World War I, and it lasted for seven months.

DST didn’t return to the US until February 1942 as a WWII measure to conserve fuel and boost national security. It was referred to as “War Time” and lasted until September 30, 1945. Time zones were called “Eastern War Time” and Pacific War Time.”

After WWII, local jurisdictions were free to choose if and when they wished to observe a time change.

More recently, in April 2024, The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted to approve Senate Bill 1200 authored by Senator Blake “Cowboy” Stephens of Tahlequah calling for permanent Daylight Savings Time yearround. Gov. Kevin State signed the Bill in July. This approval gives Oklahoma the adoption of a permanent DST once federal law authorizes states to choose whether they want to participate in the practice of a bi-annual time change or not. 19 other states passed similar legislation supporting permanent DST. (Under the Uniform Times Act, states can exempt themselves from observing daylight savings time but they don’t have the authority to make DST permanent.)

There is hope for those that would rather leave the clock alone but instead keep Standard Time year round. Last month Oklahoma State Representative Kevin West introduced House Bill 1223, called the “Wyman West Actual Lock The Clock Act,” that would undo Senate Bill 1200 and, if passed, would require the state to adopt standard time year-round. Unlike the permanent daylight savings time act, making standard time permanent does not require a federal authorization and could take effect when the clock returns to “normal” on Nov. 2.

Senator West’s bill passed the General Government House Committed 5-1 February 24. The bill appears to have gained support from the Republican majority after Donald Trump posted his opposition to daylight savings time on Truth Social.

“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, buy shouldn’t,” Trump posted in December. “Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.” Elon Musk has also posted his support to “abolish the annoying time changes.” Either way, don’t forget to set your clock forward before you go to bed Sunday night. And hopefully, by November 2 you will know for sure if this is the last time you change your clock or not, or if there will be one more change forward. Or maybe we’ll keep right on changing back and forth.