Rep. Phillip J. Brutus, a Democrat from North Miami who is sponsoring House Bill 63, said he has enough votes to get the measure approved - ``not necessarily by a wide margin'' - if it could just get to the chamber floor.

The proposal won a key endorsement Thursday night, clearing the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee on a 15-2 vote.

If approved by both legislative chambers and signed by Gov. Jeb Bush, the measure would limit the death penalty to those who were 18 or older when the crime was committed.

It also would spare four death-row inmates who were 17 when their victims were murdered. Among them is Nathan Ramirez, who was convicted of the shooting of a Pasco County woman on the night of her 71st birthday in 1995.

A similar bill sponsored by Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, is advancing in the Senate. ``I think the bottom line is going to be drawn by Speaker Byrd,'' said Crist, who has tried getting similar legislation approved in previous years.

Byrd reiterated his opposition to the issue Thursday, refusing to say whether he would allow either of the bills to be brought to a vote on the House floor.

``We'll just have to see,'' Byrd said.

In the House committee on Thursday, many of the representatives spoke in deeply personal terms about the measure, drawing their conclusions from such disparate sources as the Bible, parenthood and the developments of the brain's means for controlling impulse as an adolescent becomes an adult. Some said it was one of their gravest decisions to make.

``I don't know how many times I wished there was a yellow button for `Maybe,' '' lamented Rep. Gustavo Barreiro, R-Miami. ``I need to draw the line somewhere. ... We need to keep kids in the juvenile system and not in the adult system.''

Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, said he supported the bill because, ``A 17-year- old can't get a jury of his peers because a 17-year-old cannot sit on a jury.''

Crist, who was appointed to the conference committee between the House and the Senate on criminal justice issues, speculated that Byrd and his staff might be holding out to green-light the bill for a vote in order to win Crist's support for other legislation.

``There are some differences between the House and Senate. They know this is important to me. They know this is a factor,'' Crist said.

Bush has remained noncommittal.

His spokeswoman, Alia Faraj, said, ``We will review the bill when the governor receives them. It will be reviewed, and he will weigh in.''

Reporter Garrett Therolf can be reached at (850) 222-8382.