Florida lawmakers address potential ban on gas-powered leaf blowers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Hearing a gas-powered leaf blower rev to life is a familiar sound, but there's now a showdown at the Florida Capitol over a plan to silence them. 

Some cities in the Sunshine State are trying to ban gas blowers, but now lawmakers are slamming on the brakes. 

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Cities like Winter Park, for example, have been trying to push electric blowers instead of gas-powered ones for years. They're quieter and better for the environment, but a senator from that area is saying it's not that simple. 

In a last-minute move on Thursday - with no opportunity for public comment - the Florida Senate introduced and passed legislation that would block future and existing bans on those gas-powered blowers. 

The legislation, introduced by Republican Senator Jason Brodeur, of Sanford, appears to be sparked by the controversy over a potential ban in Winter Park. 

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He said this started as a noise issue when more people were home due to COVID-19 and didn't like hearing noisy landscapers, and he argued deciding whether or not businesses should use electric or gas-powered equipment should not be up to local governments. 

This, to me, is akin to mandating that you screen in pools, mandating that you have leather seats in your car. These are all choices consumers can make, and they're free to make them," Brodeur said. "Having a city mandate… this choice is preposterous."

The state-level preemption would apply for at least a year, and the Senate measure also includes a request for $100,000 for a study on the lifespan of gas vs. electric-powered leaf blowers. 

The measure, contained in a Senate budget bill, would still need to be approved by Governor DeSantis to become law. 

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