Madison Reporter

Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wisc.) this month urged federal lawmakers to pass a gas tax holiday to deal with spiking gasoline prices. Others proposed rolling back Wisconsin's gas tax to provide consumers relief. Yet, no action has been taken to address the state's minimum markup law, the repeal of which would provide greater relief on gas prices than either measure.

“Eliminating the minimum markup law would create a healthier competitive environment and have beneficial cost implications in the longer run than a gas tax holiday," Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Research Institute, said to Madison Reporter. “Further, the elimination of the tax has implications for the maintenance budgets for roads and highways. Eliminating minimum markups creates a more efficient pricing environment with long-term benefits and no broader cost offset (other than the elimination of protected margins).”

In the recently concluded legislative session, a bill aimed at reforming the state’s minimum markup law was not passed, Wauwatosa resident Gary Kraft said in a recent opinion piece for The Cap Times.  

This bill would have expanded the list of products exempt from the minimum markup, reducing costs on necessary items amid soaring inflation, Kraft said. In previous sessions, the Wisconsin Legislature has tried and failed to reverse this law, according to Kraft.

Evers called on federal lawmakers earlier this month to pause the federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, TMJ4 reported. This would give half as much relief to Wisconsin consumers as repealing the minimum markup law.

The nearly century-old Wisconsin statute – called the Unfair Sales Act – requires gas sellers to charge 9% more than their wholesale price per gallon of gasoline. As of March 30, Wisconsin drivers were paying an average of $3.93 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

At these prices, eliminating the mandatory markup from prices at the pump could save consumers more than either federal or state taxes. In Wisconsin, the state gas tax is 32.9 cents per gallon, according to the state's website.