Rep. Bill Kramer read yesterday’s dispatches, wished me well and sent me this release:

Reps. Kramer, Vukmir urge Governor Doyle to call special session of the Legislature to repeal minimum markup law

Sharp increase in CPI exacerbates the effect of state mandated price increases

Madison, WI – Last week, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics released data indicating that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had shot up 1.1 percent in June, for an annual pace of 5 percent, the sharpest such increase since June of 1982.  Consequently, Representatives Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) and Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) have joined a growing chorus seeking relief from increasingly high prices and urge Governor Jim Doyle to call the Legislature into special session for a vote on repeal of Wisconsin’s outmoded minimum markup law.

The minimum markup law, passed in 1939, mandates that retailers include a minimum price increase on gasoline, and also prohibits the sale of goods below cost.  Last summer, and then again in November of last year, news reports indicated that Wisconsin law prohibits residents from taking advantage of cost savings and sales on such things as prescription drugs, computers, and gasoline.

During this session, Representatives Kramer and Vukmir and Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) introduced the Competitive Marketplace Act (AB 820). The Competitive Marketplace Act repeals the current price increase requirement and modernizes Wisconsin’s statutes to reflect a century of anti-trust case law and the experience of the Federal Trade Commission. Enactment of AB 820 would allow consumers to take advantage of $4 prescription drug programs, ensure that fuel and food prices in the state are competitive and allow retailers to price their merchandise according to the market forces, not an arbitrary formula established by state government.

Representative Bill Kramer noted, “The data from BLS clearly shows the cost of living is increasing for all of us.  As lawmakers and leaders, we can and should take this step to help alleviate the rising prices of gasoline, food, and other consumer goods.  The current economic downturn is really hurting our working families in Waukesha and across Wisconsin, and government certainly shouldn’t be contributing to the pain and rising cost of living.”

Governor Doyle dating back to his time as a District Attorney has advocated for the repeal of the markup law and he has consistently urged the legislature to take bipartisan action. Additionally, several major newspapers have called for repeal of the law, with the Wisconsin State Journal stating that, “Lawmakers should repeal this anti-competitive, anti-consumer regulation.”

Representative Leah Vukmir concluded, “Consumers are feeling the impact of higher prices, not just at the gas pump, but in every other area of our economy. If there was ever a time to repeal this statutory relic and return to a free market, it is now.”