INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- An economic analyst on Monday said permanent daylight saving time would help the tourism industry, though other industries offer a more mixed outlook.
A bill in Congress would make daylight saving time permanent, eliminating the need to change the clocks twice a year. It passed the House last week with broad bipartisan support, including from all nine of Indiana's representatives. President Donald Trump has also endorsed the idea.
A recent study by the consulting firm Chmura suggests the annual switch to daylight saving time, which moves the clocks forward one hour in the spring, costs the U.S. economy about $672 million every year. Brian Nottingham, vice president of the Indianapolis-based consulting firm TPMA, said the loss in productivity comes from workers getting less sleep in the immediate aftermath of the clock change and thus moving slower or making more mistakes. He said that especially matters in sectors such as manufacturing.
"The changing of the hours twice a year does lead to some losses in productivity. I think we've all dealt with that where we feel a little bit groggy, have a tough week getting going in the first week or two after the time change," he said. "All very human things but, at the end of the day, they can be tied to issues of lost productivity that does have a deleterious impact on economic activity within the state."
An AP-NORC poll conducted last October found just 12% of Americans favor the current system of changing their clocks twice a year. Forty-seven percent of poll respondents said they oppose it. Given a choice between permanent daylight time and permanent standard time, 56% of survey respondents favored keeping the clocks sprung forward.
Nottingham said if permanent daylight saving time became the law, the tourism and leisure industry would benefit the most because daylight hours after work encourage leisure spending. He said that's especially critical in states that depend heavily on tourism, such as along the Gulf Coast, but it also matters in Indiana. Visitors to Indiana spent $16.9 billion and contributed a total of $10.9 billion in economic activity in 2024.
"There is really an indirect impact in spending, there's been a lot of research done on that," he said. "That impact is still there no matter where you are. Standard daylight time after work does lead to an increase in economic activity, sort of spending off the cuff."
Nottingham said the impact is much less clear in other industries. He said the overall impact would likely be a small net positive driven by the tourism industry, with every other industry canceling each other out. He said the most likely negative economic impact would be higher insurance premiums due to more crashes during the morning commute, which would be more likely to take place during dark hours. Nottingham said more crashes in the morning might be offset by fewer crashes in the evening, though it's hard to say.
The Senate has not yet acted on the bill. That chamber unanimously approved legislation to put the United States on permanent standard time in 2022, but the House never acted on it. Indiana's two senators, Todd Young and Jim Banks, both Republicans, have not yet taken a public position, saying they're still gathering feedback.
However, Banks has said he has serious concerns about permanent daylight time forcing children to go to school bus stops in the dark, thus putting them at greater risk of being hit by a car.
