ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Republican state legislators say their campaign to gain seats in the Minnesota House will target gas stations in the coming weeks, according to a report by Minnesota Public Radio. The House GOP caucus plans to buy advertising at locations with gasoline dispenser video monitors.
The message will criticize Democrats for supporting a transportation funding plan that raises Minnesota's gasoline tax, the report said.
House Minority Leader Marty Seifert (R) said the ads will be customized to go after Democratic Farm-Labor (DFL) party representatives his party hopes to [image-nocss] defeat in November.
"We're going right to the people who are 'torqued off'," Seifert told the radio station. "So, we're doing 15-second ads at whatever gas station has these video monitors. Everything I'm hearing from people is that this is moving to be one of the top issues of outrage."
He added, "Since the Democrats are so proud they raised gas taxes by 42%, we just want to make sure everyone filling their pump up knows."
House DFL leaders blame the oil companies for the sharp increase in pump prices. They said the state gasoline tax increase will pay for road and bridge improvements throughout Minnesota, according to the report.
In other political petroleum news, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle said he will never grant a state gasoline tax holiday, reported The New Richmond News. He was referring to such a temporary lifting of the federal gasoline tax proposed at the national level by presidential candidate and Senator John McCain (R-Arizona).
Doyle said he thinks that the oil companies would simply raise their prices and profits to cover whatever you might save in taxes.
He added that the only thing the state can do is to end the minimum markup law on gasoline, something he said lobbyists for mom-and-pop gas stations always stop whenever it comes up in the legislature.
With gas heading to $4 a gallon, Doyle said such a holiday would not do much to help anyway.
Last year, Doyle tried to impose a tax on oil company profits and make it a crime for them to pass it on to motorists, said the report. But lawmakers said they would find other ways to make up for the lost revenue.
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