TALLAHASSEE — It was all about honesty in one state Senate committee Wednesday, as lawmakers approved a bill that would eliminate the need to lie in order to buy recreational fireworks.
The bill (SB 314), sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, passed 7-4 out of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism. It would lift the ban on recreational fireworks in the state.
“This bill is really about local control. This bill is about taking the façade out of what we currently do in the state of Florida,” Brandes said, adding, “This bill just says, ‘Let’s stop lying.’ ”
Right now fireworks can be purchased under an exemption for agricultural use to scare birds off farmland, but a buyer must sign a waiver saying that’s why they’re being purchased.
Brandes said the current law has no age restrictions on who can buy the fireworks, so technically a 2-year-old could make the purchase and sign the waiver. His bill would require the buyer be at least 16 years old.
The bill, which was amended in committee, also would require fireworks retailers to register annually with the state fire marshal. Each full-time retailer would pay a $15 registration fee per location and each seasonal retailer would pay a $200 annual registration fee.
Both full-time and seasonal retailers would be required to carry a minimum of $2 million insurance covering general, comprehensive, liability and property damage. Proof of insurance would be submitted along with the registration fee to the state fire marshal.
A disclaimer still would be required to buy fireworks, but it would include personal recreational use as one of the reasons for the purchase.
In the Panhandle, many residents drive across state lines into Alabama to buy fireworks. Throughout the state, sparklers and essentially all other fireworks that don’t launch into the air are legal.
The Florida Fire Chiefs Association opposed bill. The group’s representative, Wayne Watts, said between 2007 and 2011 the misuse of legal fireworks caused $32 million in property damage. He said in 2011 there were more than 9,600 fireworks-related injuries nationwide.
Watts, former chief of the Panama City Fire Department, said he didn’t believe everyone would use fireworks responsibly and said the law is not a farce. He said fireworks stored in homes are dangerous, particularly if the house catches on fire.
“There are many people that can raise arguments about protecting people from themselves,” he said. “Well, you can’t always do that, but what you can do is pass sensible fireworks laws that are going to make it so that people do not violate the law.”
Chairman Nancy Detert, R-Venice, disagreed.
“The law is a farce, and everyone knows it,” she said, adding, “As far as I’m concerned this bill just removes the lying aspect of the current law because it’s — it is a farce; it’s ridiculous.”
Detert also dubbed the legislation the “We’re done lying bill.” She said it would allow local governments to make fireworks laws stronger at their discretion. For that reason, the Florida League of Cities is backing the bill.
The measure, however, didn’t have large-scale support on the panel. State Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, had a lot of concerns about safety issues.
“I think that this is a … dangerous issue that we’re dealing with, and I’d like us to handle it some other way,” she said.
A hearing on the House version of the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, was temporarily postponed in committee Wednesday.