Daylight saving time gives and takes - an extra hour of light in the evening for a temporary disruption to sleep schedules. But many say it has outlived its usefulness.

“It seems to be rather disruptive in people’s lives,” said state Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill/Berks/Carbon. “I think there are health concerns about dealing with the changes in time.”

Pennsylvania state legislators voted in favor of permanent daylight saving time in Pennsylvania last year, but it hasn’t advanced in the state senate.

On Tuesday, U.S. Senators passed their own bill that would do away with changing clocks and make daylight saving time permanent. The bill still needs approval from the House, and the signature of President Joe Biden, to become law. If passed, daylight saving time would become permanent next year.

The bill was introduced by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has promoted permanent daylight saving time for several years.

“Switching in and out of daylight saving time is outdated, and it’s only a source of annoyance and confusion. Frankly, it’s just dumb, and there’s just no other way to say it,” Rubio said in a video posted this week.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., voted in favor of ending daylight saving. When the bill was introduced last year, Toomey called the process silly and antiquated.

“The extra hour of sleep this weekend isn’t worth the inconvenience of resetting your kids’ schedules, creating business disruptions, and confusing the traveling public twice a year,” Toomey wrote.

The American Heart Association says that hospitalizations for irregular heartbeats increase in the week following daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time was first observed in the U.S. in 1918 as a way to conserve coal but didn’t become mandated nationwide until 1966. Hawaii and Arizona are the only states that do not participate.

Daylight saving remains in effect for 34 weeks, or about two-thirds of the year.

Between 1973-1975, it stayed in effect year-round because it was thought to reduce oil consumption during the oil crisis.

Permanent daylight saving time would mean a later sunrise and sunset during the winter months.

Under permanent daylight saving time, sunrise on Dec. 25 would be 8:30 a.m. and sunset would be 5:50.

Pennsylvania state legislators voted to make daylight saving permanent last year - but only if Congress changed the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to allow individual states to choose.

The bill isn’t the only daylight saving bill that has been introduced in the last two years. Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, proposed moving the state to Atlantic Standard Time - basically making daylight saving permanent without violating the federal law.

State Rep. Russ Diamond proposed ending daylight saving and having year-round standard time.

New York and Delaware each have laws that say they will make daylight saving permanent, but only if Pennsylvania and other neighboring states do it.

Knowles and Doyle Heffley were among the 103 Representatives who voted in favor of year-round daylight saving last year.

Heffley said he doesn’t think the benefits seem to warrant the disruption anymore.

“It’s not the biggest issue out there, but we all feel a little different when the hours change. I don’t think there’s anyone this week who can say it’s not affecting them,” he said.