Julie Riederer brought a car to Marquette this year so she could drive from campus to her job in Brookfield. But lately, the money she is making from her job is going directly back into the car that takes her there.
"I paid $50 for 16 gallons of gas this weekend," said the College of Arts & Sciences junior.
Riederer may find some relief from high gas prices thanks to Wisconsin legislators who are proposing a Gas Tax Holiday, a period of time when Wisconsin's tax on gas would be lifted.
Advocates of the Gas Tax Holiday say it would require a decrease in taxes charged at the pump. Currently, a few different variations of the plan are circulating. Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) issued a statement last week stressing the urgency of implementing one of the plans.
"With every gallon of gas purchased, Wisconsin families pay 29.9 cents in tax. It's one of the highest gas taxes in the country," said Mike Mikalsen, a spokesman for Nass. "What Rep. Nass is saying is not that one plan is better than another. What's he's saying is the time for action is now."
None of the Gas Tax Holiday plans can be passed unless the Legislature goes into an extraordinary session, according to Mikalsen. He said Nass and other plan proponents have already petitioned Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, and legislative leadership to call an extraordinary session, but success has proved elusive so far.
But while most people would agree that gas prices are high — weekend prices in the Milwaukee area hit $3.19 per gallon — there is debate over whether a Gas Tax Holiday is the best way to reduce them.
Fearful of losing funds, the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin issued a statement Friday stating a Gas Tax Holiday would "cost the transportation fund hundreds of millions of dollars." Some of the revenue from gas tax goes to improve highways, bridges and other transporation infrastructure.
The Sierra Club encourages conservation rather than a Gas Tax Holiday to tame gas prices.
The environmental group released a statement in the wake of Hurricane Katrina stressing "talk from Congressional Leaders" is not the way to combat high gas prices.
Caryl Terrell, director of the club's Wisconsin chapter, said the organization is asking people to personally conserve the amount of gas they use.
"There are things we ask people to do for the ozone and the environment; it's also great savings," Terrell said.
Gas money can be saved by doing all errands in one trip, taking the bus once a week and carpooling, Terrell said. She said these suggestions are made by environmental advocates year-round, but are more likely to be taken seriously by people when something — like high gas prices — motivates them to listen.
"It doesn't matter how many times you say something. It's when you hear it," she said. "The fact that people are listening now is really important."
Riederer said she now follows some of Terrell's suggestions because of high gas prices.
But Cathy Stout, a junior in the College of Health Sciences, said the prices have not been high enough long enough to make her worry about her 30-minute commute from Pewaukee to Marquette.
"I'm more aware of it now, but I haven't really changed anything," Stout said.
Nass is now urging legislators to sign a joint petition calling for an extraordinary session to look at the Gas Tax Holiday, Mikalsen said. The petition would need to be signed by a majority of members in each house, and is a rare tactic, according to Mikalsen.
"The joint petition process hasn't been used in years," he said. "But people are suffering from currently-high prices. The legislature has an obligation to do something."
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 13, 2005.