UPDATE: Senate Bill 380 sponsor Senator Olsen removed his name from the bill and will abstain from voting for it due to a perceived conflict of interest. Vicki McKenna of WISN radio was kind enough to send me that tidbit. Senator Olsen, by the way, is a republican, which just goes to show we need to watch them all. She also sent this lint to an Ethanol piece Mark Belling wrote 2 years ago when this was heading to the senate. Very interesting.
Senate Bill 380, the Renewable Fuel bill a.k.a. Ethanol Mandate bill hit the Senate floor today. However, according to Mark Belling's radio program* this afternoon, the Senate Democrats chose not to call the vote today. They knew they were short 2 votes (they need 17 votes for passage). So rather than have the bill fail, they simply returned it to the Democrat controlled Administrative Committee. I would guess it will wait there until the pro-ethanol crowd feels they have enough votes for passage.
This is at least temporarily a bit of good news. The legislators in favor of mandating 25% ethanol use for the state of Wisconsin must get it to the floor for a vote before the legislature recesses in March. We currently pay a subsidy of 51 cents for every gallon sold. Can you imagine the financial impact if every gallon of gas in Wisconsin taps us for 51 cents?
Vicki McKenna, on her radio show* today, reported that Jim Sullivan and Mike Huebtch were on the fence about ethanol. Jim Sullivan's office did send me an auto email reply that he got my email, but there were no specifics on his stance. I have not heard from Mike Huebsch yet.
FYI, Ted Kanavas contacted me, "SB 390 is similar to legislation I voted against in the past, but it goes even further by requiring that at least 25% of all gasoline sold in Wisconsin after 2025 contains either ethanol or another renewable fuel. I do not support this or any other ethanol mandate."
Senator Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's office also contacted me. He states he is opposed to the bill and will vote against it.
If you have not contacted our state leaders and representatives, please do so even if they support your position. They need to hear from you. Sometimes as little as 15 calls or emails can be enough to influence their decisions. As much as you don't like to do it, it works. If you have family and friends who live in other communities, encourage them to call or email their representatives too.
Familiarize yourself with this issue: Its Back! Ethanol bill heads to senate Thursday--Speak Up, The Ethanol Fallacy
Contact your representatives:
State Senator Jim Sullivan, Democrat, 5th District
Sen.Sullivan@legis.wisconsin.gov 608-266-2512, 866-817-6061
State Senator Theodore Kanavas, Republican, 33rd District
Sen.Kanavas@legis.wisconsin.gov 608-266-9174, 800-863-8883
State Representative Leah Vukmir, Republican, 14th District
Rep.Vukmir@legis.wisconsin.gov 608-266-9180
Representative Rich Zipperer, Republican, 98th District
Rep.Zipperer@legis.wisconsin.gov 608-266-5120
Governor Doyle
608-266-1212, 414-227-4344
Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (Assembly Majority Leader), from Horicon. Counties: Columbia and Dodge
Rep. Michael Huebsch (Assembly Speaker), from West Salem. Counties: LaCrosse and Monroe
Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (Senate Minority Leader), from Juneau. Counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, and Waukesha
*I appreciate the heads up from readers when they hear pertinent topics discussed on talk radio.
Links: Betterbrookfield, Brookfield7, Fairlyconservative, Vicki Mckenna
