Agudath Israel of America is urging New Jersey residents to contact U.S. Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker as the U.S. Senate considers the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide.

The legislation, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, passed the House of Representatives by a 308-117 vote, and now awaits action in the Senate. If passed and signed by President Trump – who is pushing strongly for passage – it would put the country on the time currently observed from March to November unless a state exempted itself before the act took effect.

The call to action comes after a delegation of Agudath Israel advocates, including Shlomo Schorr, Director of Legislative Affairs for Agudath Israel’s New Jersey Office, traveled to Washington, D.C., where they met with more than 20 Senate offices to discuss the proposal.

According to Agudath Israel, the meetings were encouraging, with many Senate offices acknowledging the concerns raised and indicating that senators are continuing to study the issue before deciding whether to support the legislation.

Schorr said the discussions were particularly significant in New Jersey.

“When we met with Senator Andy Kim’s office, we were told that although Senator Kim had previously sponsored the Sunshine Protection Act, he is now undecided and is carefully reviewing its potential impacts,” Schorr said. “That means New Jersey residents have a real opportunity to make their voices heard before a final decision is made.”

Agudath Israel’s Action Alert outlines two primary concerns with making Daylight Saving Time permanent.

The organization argues that keeping clocks on Daylight Saving Time year-round would push winter sunrises until after 8 a.m. in New Jersey, forcing many children to travel to school in darkness for much of the winter and increasing potential safety risks. The group also points to the nation’s brief experiment with permanent Daylight Saving Time in the early 1970s, which Congress repealed after widespread public opposition and concerns about children traveling to school before sunrise.

The organization also says the proposal would create significant challenges for the Orthodox Jewish community by delaying the earliest permissible time for Shacharis during the winter months. According to Agudath Israel, later sunrises would make it difficult for many working individuals to attend a morning minyan or even put on tefillin before leaving for work, while also creating scheduling difficulties for synagogues and yeshivos.

Schorr also noted that these concerns have long been recognized within the Orthodox community.

“In 1971, Harav Hagaon Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt’l, described permanent Daylight Saving Time as a ‘gezeirah mamash al hatefillah’ and urged that it be opposed through every available means of advocacy,” Schorr said. “Those concerns remain just as relevant today.”

The Action Alert asks New Jersey residents to contact both of the state’s senators and urge them to carefully consider the impact of permanent Daylight Saving Time on children’s safety, religious practice, and daily life before supporting the legislation.

The renewed advocacy effort comes as President Donald Trump publicly called on Senate Republicans Tuesday evening to move the legislation forward.

“This is an issue that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can unite behind,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I am asking Republican Senators to release their holds, and allow the hotline to clear on the Republican side.”

The Sunshine Protection Act has received bipartisan support in previous sessions of Congress but has repeatedly stalled in the Senate. While supporters argue that permanent Daylight Saving Time would eliminate the need to change clocks twice a year, opponents have raised concerns about darker winter mornings, school safety, and the impact on sleep, health, and religious observance.

Fill out the Action Alert here.