Illinois will soon spring forward and lose sleep. When does daylight saving time start?
If you’re ready for more sunlight, you won’t have to wait much longer. Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9, when Illinois residents “spring forward” and move their clocks ahead one hour.
Spring officially begins Thursday, March 20, and southwestern Illinois and St. Louis residents have warmer days in the forecast after a prolonged period of snowy, icy conditions across the region. Average temperatures typically start exceeding 50 degrees Fahrenheit in Belleville by April.
But will Illinois put an end to the tradition of changing clocks twice a year? Here’s what to know.
Daylight saving time legislation in Illinois
Bills relating to daylight saving time often circulate the Illinois legislature. One recent example is House Bill 1400, which would make daylight saving time permanent in the state beginning in March 2026. House Bill 1400 was filed Jan. 16.
Some efforts against clock-changing have taken a different approach, however, such as House Bill 3321, which would exempt the state from required daylight saving time. That bill died when the state’s 102nd General Assembly adjourned in January 2023.
These recent bills are far from the only effort to end clock-changing in Illinois, and the U.S. Senate signed off on similar legislation for the nation in 2022. So far, Hawaii and Arizona are the only states in the country that don’t observe daylight saving time, and the Navajo Nation portion of Arizona does practice daylight saving.
The history of daylight saving
Daylight saving time was made a legal requirement by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
State governments cannot independently change time zones or the length of daylight saving time, the department reports, but they can exempt themselves from the practice.
“States do not have the authority to choose to be on permanent Daylight Saving Time,” the U.S. Department of Transportation website reads.
This year’s daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.
Sunrise and sunset times in Belleville
Belleville sunsets have been happening later in the day since early December, just before the Dec. 21, 2024, winter solstice.
Here’s how sunrise and sunset times will change in Belleville in the coming months, according to global online clock Time and Date:
Friday, Jan. 31: 7:05 a.m. sunrise, 5:21 p.m. sunset
Saturday, Feb. 15: 6:50 a.m. sunrise, 5:38 p.m. sunset
Sunday, March 9 (beginning of daylight saving time): 7:19 a.m. sunrise, 7:01 p.m. sunset
Monday, March 31: 6:45 a.m. sunrise, 7:22 p.m. sunset
Tuesday, April 15: 6:23 a.m. sunrise, 7:36 p.m. sunset
Wednesday, April 30: 6:03 a.m. sunrise, 7:51 p.m. sunset
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