Wisconsin auto buyers might have another reason to purchase more environmentally friendly, flexible-fuel vehicles if state lawmakers approve a bill introduced Monday creating tax break incentives.

State Rep. Michael Sheridan, D-Janesville, said the bill would allow people who purchase or lease a new "flex-fuel" vehicle to claim a $1,000 tax credit.

Flex-fuel vehicles are capable of running on regular gasoline or up to an 85 percent ethanol-gasoline mixture, commonly called E85.

According to Sheridan, the bill would do more than promote the corn-based ethanol industry and help Wisconsin reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

It could help Wisconsin cities like Kenosha and Janesville, Sheridan said, which manufacture flex-fuel vehicles.

"It's kind of a win-win-win for the state of Wisconsin — for the consumers, the workers and the farmers," Sheridan said.

Sheridan also said the environment would benefit from the bill because flex-fuel vehicles' emission levels are lower than their gasoline counterparts.

Tom Kelly, spokesperson for Sheridan, said the bill would expire after five years. And according to research conducted for a similar bill introduced two years ago, the annual cost to the state would likely be about $16 million.

"Taxpayers have spent a lot of money investing in ethanol infrastructure," Kelly said. "[The bill] would allow taxpayers to see a return on that investment."

Sheridan proposed the bill to the state Legislature as part of a bipartisan trio, including state Rep. Gene Hahn, R-Cambria, and Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie.

The bill came two weeks after Gov. Jim Doyle allocated $1 million in his budget for tax credits, which the governor said would "assist businesses to meet the cost of installing renewable fuel pumps and related infrastructure."

Joshua Morby, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Ethanol Coalition, said Wisconsin currently has around 70 E85 pumps.

At 50 cents less per gallon than regular unleaded gasoline, Morby said fuel savings alone should be a reason to purchase flex-fuel vehicles.

"It's still cheaper to put gas in your car that's produced in central Wisconsin than to use gas that's brought from oil fields in the Middle East," Morby said.

Despite speculation on whether farmers can satisfy the demand for ethanol, Morby said the vehicles' future looks bright. He also said alternative sources of ethanol are being researched, including paper pulp, an abundant resource in Wisconsin.

Carla Vigue, a spokesperson for Governor Doyle, said keeping energy costs down is something on which both Democrats and Republicans can agree.

Vigue said Doyle wants to grow Wisconsin's ethanol and bioindustry and added Doyle is "supportive of all efforts to make Wisconsin less dependent on oil in the Middle East."

Sheridan said the bill is "one of those issues we've got people from both sides of the aisle in support of it," but added the costs and returns would need to be established before approval.