As most of the United States prepares to "spring forward" this weekend, it's renewing a conversation among state lawmakers who want to make daylight saving time permanent in New York.

Congress passed a measure to start advancing the clocks ahead one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall in 1918 to preserve daylight.

Lawmakers have reintroduced a bipartisan bill to make daylight saving time, which typically runs from the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November, continue year-round in New York.

Arizona and Hawaii and the U.S.'s five inhabited territories do not observe the practice.

Sponsor Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara sees little benefits of the biannual time change he says affects people's sleep and health without saving much energy.

"Employers have reported that they lose productivity around that time, you know, so millions of dollars lost in the economy," said Santabarbara, a Democrat from Rotterdam. "It makes sense if you follow the research on this."

The statewide time change would only take effect if New York's five neighboring states of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania pass similar legislation.

But states will have to wait for Congress to adopt any changes as federal law requires a uniform time standard. 

U.S. senators unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., last year. The measure was reintroduced in Congress last week ahead of this weekend's time adjustment.

"There's a desire to move in this direction," said state Senate sponsor Joe Griffo, a Republican from Rome. "The question is whether, and how, we will achieve that. And I think, ultimately, it's the Congress."

Nineteen U.S. states have passed legislation or resolutions in the last five years to make daylight saving time year-round, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Griffo says passing the measure in New York would put pressure on Congress to end the time change, which results in more people driving while fatigued and higher numbers of traffic accidents crashes and fatalities, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles and the National Road Safety Foundation.

Griffo and Santabarbara say their colleagues are interested in the legislation, but they expect to gain support and potentially advance the bill later this spring until after the Legislature passes the 23-24 state budget. The spending plan deadlines April 1.

But health experts differ on daylight saving time, with some advocating to make standard time permanent instead.

Dr. Raj Bhui, a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Public Safety Committee, argues making Daylight Saving Time permanent would have a chronic impact on people's internal clocks.

"Not only are we losing that early-morning, bright-light exposure, which is our, again, our greatest light cue, but we're shifting that toward the evening, which we know affects the sleep at night," Bhui said Friday.

In contrast with the proposed legislation, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports abolishing daylight saving time and advocates in favor of permanent standard time, citing misalignment with a person's circadian biology, health and safety risks.

Up to 19% of U.S. adults do not get enough sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health, which Bhui added won't improve by doing away with the practice.

The doctor says adults are likely to feel permanently out of sync if daylight saving time becomes permanent, and acknowledged the time change increases traffic accidents, heart attacks, strokes and hospital admissions in the weeks following.

EDITOR's NOTE: This story has been modified to correct and clarify Dr. Raj Bhui's arguments in favor of making standard time permanent.