To stop a proposal winding its way through the Florida Legislature, a group of Miami-Dade commissioners agreed Tuesday to give voters a say on the county’s 23-year-old ban on pit bull ownership.

Commissioners on the public safety and health care administration committee feared the proposed legislation outlawing the county’s pit-bull ban would undermine Miami-Dade’s home-rule powers, which give it sole authority to deal with local matters.

Instead of waiting for the proposal to come to a final vote in Tallahassee, committee members favor putting a question on the August countywide election ballot asking voters if Miami-Dade should repeal the ban.

In exchange, commissioners said they would urge state Rep. Carlos Trujillo, a Miami Republican, to withdraw the legislation he has sponsored in the Florida House of Representatives.

“We cannot allow the armor to take kinks in it,” Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, the committee chairman, said, referring to protecting the county’s powers. “We should be dealing with this internally.”

Diaz and Commissioner Esteban Bovo, a former state lawmaker, sent text messages during the committee meeting to Trujillo, who indicated from Tallahassee that he would stop pushing his bill if commissioners follow through on putting the pit-bull ban to voters.

“I think it’s only fair that the people of Dade County decide,” Trujillo later told The Miami Herald.

His legislation, which is scheduled to go before a House panel Thursday, will continue moving forward for now, while commissioners go through the multi-step process of placing the pit-bull ban question on the ballot. The full county commission could give an initial thumbs-up to the plan as early as Tuesday, before Trujillo’s bill makes it to the House floor for a vote.

Trujillo said he would not have agreed to pull back his legislation under an initial plan proposed by Commissioner Javier Souto, who wanted to put a non-binding straw poll on the ballot about whether to repeal the pit-bull ban.

Souto’s colleagues on the committee also said they preferred a binding ballot question.

“I think you’re going to see this is an emotional issue that’s going to bring people to the polls,” said Commissioner Sally Heyman, who opposes the pit-bull ban.

Pit-bull enthusiasts recently found a high-profile advocate for the breed in Mark Buehrle, the left-handed pitcher the Miami Marlins signed in December to a four-year, $58 million contract. Buehrle moved his family to Broward because his American Staffordshire terrier, a type of pit bull, is prohibited in Miami-Dade.

The Buehrles recently made a public service ad supporting repeal of the ban.

With Trujillo’s proposal gaining traction in Tallahassee, a couple dozen opponents of the ban staged a demonstration Sunday afternoon in front of Tropical Park, complete with “We heart pit bulls!” signs, fliers and a banner airplane flying overhead.

Miami-Dade enacted its ban in 1989, after a pit bull attacked and disfigured an 8-year-old girl. The state later prohibited counties from passing their own “breed-specific” legislation. Trujillo’s bill would remove the language in state law that allows Miami-Dade’s exemption.

Supporters of the ban say pit bulls kill or maim more people than other dog breeds. Opponents counter that no breed is inherently vicious and that abusive owners are to blame for dangerous dogs.

Trujillo said he has received some 2,000 emails from around the country and the world backing his legislation.

“I thought it would be a good bill and give people some more privacy, some more rights,” he said.

Critics of the ban pleaded with the committee Tuesday to let Trujillo’s proposal advance. But commissioners said they want to avoid having the state impose its authority on the county — even though some commissioners admitted reviewing Miami-Dade’s ban may be overdue.

“It ends up in the Legislature because many people that have been appealing to us feel they’re not getting anywhere, feel that they have nowhere else to go,” Commissioner Lynda Bell said. “We may not want to hear it, but it’s the truth.”

If commissioners do put the question on the August ballot, which will feature primary contests for the county mayor and state legislative races, Dahlia Canes, who leads the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation, a group fighting the prohibition, urged use of the “breed-specific legislation” language instead of “pit-bull ban.”

“In 23 years, this county has been taught by the local government to fear pit bulls,” she said. “Let’s not inflame the public any more than it is.”

Miami Herald staff writer Elinor J. Brecher contributed to this report.