When does daylight saving time end? It's almost time to 'fall back' in Delaware

Get ready to "fall back" and get an extra hour of sleep.

The end of daylight saving time is soon approaching, when most people nationwide will have to reset their clocks one hour back.

The time change will happen at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 7. That's when 2 a.m. local time instantly becomes 1 a.m. and people "gain" an extra hour of time.

Though it comes up twice every year without fail, the concept of daylight saving time leads to confusion and conversation every year — and we have Benjamin Franklin to thank for that.

And no it's not daylight "savings" time despite how we may say it in everyday conversation.

A 1966 federal law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and later amended twice specifies that daylight time applies from 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March until 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November in areas that do not specifically exempt themselves to stay on standard time, according to the Associated Press.

However, it does require that states get approval from Congress before making daylight saving time permanent.

Two states have opted out: Arizona and Hawaii.

In the past four years, 19 states have passed legislation or resolutions seeking to make daylight saving time the standard time in their states, if Congress takes action, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. 

Those states include: 

• Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana in 2021.
• Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming in 2020.
• Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington in 2019.
• Florida in 2018.
• California voters also authorized a change, but legislative action is pending.

Federal law does not currently allow for full-time daylight savingtime, but the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 seeks to change that in Congress. 

A bill in the New York state Legislature calls for daylight saving time to become the year-round standard in New York. It would be contingent on a repeal of the 1966 federal law and would take effect only if neighboring states went year-round, too.

"Studies show that it is the transition out of Daylight Saving Time, which leads to an increase in car accidents, causes more on-site work incidents, and disrupts the health of all who are subject to this time change," the bill states. 

The New York bill hasn't made it out of committee. 

Meanwhile, most phones and computers automatically adjust for the time change, though manual clocks need to be reset. It's also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke alarm.

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Joseph Spector is the Government and Politics Editor for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Group, overseeing coverage in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. He can be reached at JSPECTOR@Gannett.com or followed on Twitter: @GannettAlbany

The USA TODAY Network New York, Indianapolis Star and Austin American-Statesman contributed to this report.