Mass. Senate Advances Year-Round Atlantic Time Bill, but 2 Neighbors Must Join

The Massachusetts Senate took a first step on Thursday, Oct. 29, toward ending the twice-a-year clock change, advancing a bill that would put the state on Atlantic time year-round, State House News Service and Boston.com reported. The change would take effect only if at least two neighboring states agree to do the same, and the bill still needs another Senate vote, House approval and the governor’s signature.

Related: Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday: Boston Sunsets Drop to 4:37 p.m.

What the Senate did

The five Democrats on the Senate Rules Committee voted to advance the bill, S 2157, and the committee’s two Republicans did not take a position, State House News Service reported in a story published by WWLP. Boston.com reported the committee vote as 5–0.

The Senate then advanced the bill during an informal session, ordering it to a “third reading,” a procedural step before the full Senate considers it again, according to Boston.com. A second Senate vote is needed to send it to the House, State House News Service reported.

What the bill would do

Atlantic Standard Time is one hour ahead of Eastern time. Year-round, it would match the clock time Massachusetts now keeps from March to November and give residents an extra hour of evening daylight in winter, according to State House News Service and Boston.com.

Massachusetts cannot change time zones on its own. The U.S. Department of Transportation sets time zone boundaries, and the bill directs the governor to petition the department to move the state into the Atlantic zone within 120 days of the law taking effect, State House News Service reported.

The bill would take effect only if two or more of New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York or Maine agree to adopt Atlantic time with Massachusetts, pass a law with the same effect, or direct an official to ask the federal government to move them, according to State House News Service. A 2017 state commission had recommended a switch only if a majority of neighboring states made it, a higher bar than the bill sets.

The case for and against

Senate President Karen Spilka called the clock change a “ridiculous seasonal dance” that disrupts sleep, Boston.com reported, and said a single permanent time would improve health and road safety. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Keenan, a Quincy Democrat, cited a lower risk of heart attacks, strokes and car crashes and higher workplace productivity, according to Boston.com.

Critics prefer permanent standard time. At a July 2025 hearing, most people who testified backed H 3405, which would keep the state on Eastern Standard Time year-round, State House News Service reported. Karin Johnson, a Springfield sleep medicine specialist testifying for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said permanent daylight time “would delay sunrises in Massachusetts after 8 a.m.” for two months each winter. The 2017 commission also flagged risks for children waiting for school buses in the dark, State House News Service reported.

House members of the committee sent H 3405 to a study in March 2026, according to State House News Service.

What happens next

The bill needs a second Senate vote before it can go to the House, then approval by the House and the governor. Even then, the clocks would not change unless at least two neighboring states act and federal regulators agree. Follow the bill in Massachusetts politics coverage.

Sources

• WWLP (State House News Service): After clocks are turned back, Senate could debate daylight hours
• Boston.com: Massachusetts wants to stop changing the clocks. It needs at least 2 other states to agree.