A Wisconsin legislator introduced a bill into the State Assembly Thursday that would temporarily lower the price of gas in the state.
State Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, drafted the two-part bill, which would stop the annual indexing of the gas tax and would institute a minimum 30-day gas tax holiday in the state pending the approval of state government.
"The fight to help consumers weather the worst energy prices in history continues," Nass said in a release. "Although powerful special interests will oppose this bill, I am determined to stand with Wisconsin families in their time of need."
The gas tax holiday would eliminate the 29.9 cents per gallon gas excise tax for 30 days. If the bill is passed by the state Legislature and receives the signature of Gov. Jim Doyle, the tax holiday would become effective two weeks after Doyle signs the bill into law.
The governor would also have the option of extending the holiday an additional 30 days.
Nass said temporarily abolishing the gas tax could save consumers more than $175 million over the duration of two months.
The average price of regular unleaded gas in the state Sunday was $2.62, just two cents short of the national average of $2.64, according to the Wisconsin American Automobile Association.
The second part of the bill would permanently repeal the state gas tax indexing, an automatic annual increase in the state gas tax, which occurs each year on April 1. This move would save consumers in the state more than $39 million in the next two years, Nass said.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projected this year's indexing to raise the gas tax from 29.9 cents to 30.7 cents in April 2006.
However, the bill has received criticism from many in the state who feel removing the gas tax for one to two months would cause problems for an already financially stressed state Department of Transportation, which receives much of its funding from the gas tax.
State Rep. Spencer Black said though he supports the repeal of gas tax indexing, he feels the moratorium on the gas tax would mar the DOT's ability to serve the transportation needs of Wisconsin residents.
"Having a 30-day moratorium on the gas tax is not well thought out," Black said. "It's not a good way to deal with the budget and it doesn't solve the problem, which is the lack of accountability for taxation and spending in the Department of Transportation."
Black said he introduced legislation earlier this year to halt the annual indexing of the gas tax, but his bill has yet to be voted on in the Legislature.
If the bill had specific remedies to recover lost funding for the DOT, Black said, the legislation would have more integrity.
"Without Rep. Nass saying what he would cut, I think it's just a gimmick," Black said. "If he's serious, he should at least include what cuts he'd make in the budget."
Despite this, Nass said the bill is crucial to consumers and cited the support of ten other state legislators who are sponsoring it.
"The time has come for the Legislature to refocus its attention on the middle class of this great state," Nass said. "My bill is just one step forward in changing the direction of state government."
