MILWAUKEE -- Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle late last week signed anti-gasoline price gouging legislation. Senate Bill 358 gives him authority to declare a state of emergency during which price gouging can be investigated and punished.
Wisconsin families are already being squeezed by sky-high gas prices, said Doyle. The aftermath of a disaster should not be an excuse for big oil companies to gouge Wisconsin citizens. We need to send a clear message to the big oil companies that they can't simply raise prices 40 or 50 cents overnight for no reason.
In September, after Hurricane Katrina, Doyle called for anti-gouging legislation and he renewed this call on April 17 this year. Both houses responded to his call and unanimously passed this legislation before adjourning.
The bill will help control gasoline costs during the most uncertain economic times following emergencies. Under the bill, an emergency is defined as a tornado, flood, fire, storm or hostile action, such as an act of terrorism. The anti-gouging provision will apply to all other consumer goods and services.
If price-gouging occurs, the Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection or the Department of Justice may issue a warning about how to comply with the law, or either agency may bypass the warning and seek an injunction, a forfeiture of no more than $10,000 or both.
Separately, in New York, Republican gubernatorial candidate William Weld said he would propose that the state do away with the sales tax on gasoline and offer tax incentives for alternative fuel sources. He said that New Yorkers are being hit with a double tax on gas: sales tax and an excise tax, reported the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
I think the whole tax on gas should be rolled back, he said. It's tax on a tax.
Weld also wants a personal income tax credit on purchases of hybrid vehicles and a property tax credit for the installation of renewable fuel pumps at gas stations. He said he would make up the loss of revenue by cutting state spending, part of his taxpayer bill of rights plan unveiled in January.
The gasoline proposals are similar to what Gov. George Pataki pitched earlier this year, the report said. But while lawmakers this month approved spending $20 million on research to develop alternative fuels and a tax break for ethanol producers, they rejected Pataki's plan to provide matching grants to stations that sell biofuels, to eliminate all state taxes on biofuels and give buyers of hybrid cars a $2,000 tax credit.
Weld is running against former state Assemblyman John Faso for the Republican nomination. Faso said the roughly $600 million a year the state takes in on gasoline sales tax should be designated solely for road and bridge repair. Right now, the money goes into the state's general fund. Faso said he was also an early backer of a cap on the gasoline tax, which the state legislature passed last week.
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