A bill moving through the Legislature aims to make it easier for landscapers to switch to electric equipment by requiring many local air districts to offer voucher programs.
The measure comes two years after another bill took effect banning the sale of gas-powered landscaping equipment.
Jose David Alonso, a landscaper from Altadena, recently attended a Senate committee hearing to express concerns around a local ban on gas powered equipment.
He says he was recently insulted for using his gas-powered leaf blower while working. Someone told him that he was going to report him to the city. Alonso says that’s why he’s here representing his landscaping colleagues going through the same problem.
Alonso says buying electric equipment to replace his gear is difficult as many of the homes he used to work at were destroyed by the Eaton fire last year.
Daniela Gonzalez with bill sponsor California Immigrant Policy Center says current incentive programs don’t consider the needs of the many immigrants who do the work.
"Without meaningful support for the transition, local bans on gas-powered equipment could also, and do, push hardworking families into debt through fines and penalties," said Gonzalez.
Opponents, including some local air districts, argue creating and administering the voucher programs could cost more than the incentives themselves.
The bill now heads to Senate appropriations.