The court has not ruled on the appeal. Association president Matt Hauser said his organization is waiting for a court ruling on whether it will be allowed [image-nocss] to intervene in the case after the state attorney general decided not to appeal.
Despite the stay, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection has not resumed enforcing the minimum markup law, Jeremy McPherson, director of department's business trade practices bureau, told the newspaper. "We're going to wait and see what happens with the appellate court ruling."
But the department announced in March it will continue to enforce the other parts of the 1939 Unfair Sales Act, which prohibits gasoline dealers and other retailers from selling products below cost, said the report.
The minimum markup part of the law bars sales of gasoline at less than a 9.18% markup over the average posted wholesale price. Opponents of the law say it hurts consumers by keeping gasoline prices high, while supporters say it protects family-owned gas stations from predatory pricing by larger competitors.
The law's uncertain status apparently has not generated a flurry of price slashing.
"We've received a handful of complaints, but we have not concluded any investigation or taken any action since the [February] ruling," McPherson said.
Ed Francois of Francois Oil Co., Belleville, which operates 17 stations and convenience stores in southern Wisconsin and Milwaukee, including four in Madison, said he has noticed little change in gasoline pricing prompted by the court rulings. "We think the marketplace is working very well right now," he told the paper, adding that gasoline prices have risen and fallen appropriately along with the price of crude oil.
Hauser noted that the minimum markup law never prohibited pump price discounts or rebates provided by a third party such as the gasoline rebates offered by Roundy's or per-gallon discounts for Kwik Trip credit card holders.
Click herefor previous CSP Daily News coverage.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.