(WisBusiness) FRI News Summary — 13 Feb. 2009

From WisBusiness.com …

— The Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association praised the minimum mark-up law as good for both the state’s business climate and consumers while condemning a federal court decision declaring the law as unconstitutional.

“States with similar laws have more retail establishments, which leads to a more competitive marketplace,” the group said in a statement.

The WPMCSA urged AG J.B. Van Hollen to appeal the decision issued by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Rudolph Randa. Randa ruled the motor vehicle provisions in the law violated the federal Sherman Act’s prohibition against restraints of trade. Flying J Inc., a Utah corporation that operates travel plazas in River Falls and Oak Creek, sued the state seeking to overturn the law that mandates a minimum mark-up of 9.18 percent above the average terminal price.

Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee and author of a bill to repeal the statute last session, called it an “unfair and outdated rule that forces Wisconsin consumers to pay more for gasoline than our neighbors.”

The Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based law firm representing a Merrill gas station owner in a state lawsuit against the state, also chimed in on the decision, saying, “Yesterday’s decision means that the government can no longer threaten Wisconsin entrepreneurs with thousands of dollars in fines because their gas prices aren’t high enough.”

The DOJ said it hasn’t made a decision on whether to appeal, but it won’t bring any actions to enforce the law so long as the order stands.

Gov. Jim Doyle said he has always been in favor of getting rid of the law “and if that’s the result of this and now the state is enjoined from enforcing it that’s fine with me.”

— The Wisconsin Realtors Association reports that Wisconsin home sales declined in 2008 by 19.2 percent as compared to 2007, with median prices falling 3.7 percent to $158,000 over that same time period. Home sales in the Midwest were down by 14.9 percent, which is slightly higher than the national decline of 13.1 percent.

“Combining this strong recession with the financial meltdown last fall, it’s not surprising that home sales suffered in 2008,” said WRA President William Malkasian. “But our prices seem to have weathered the storm thus far, falling just 3.7 percent below 2007 levels, and outperforming the nation and the Midwest region.”

*See the WRA release: http://www.wra.org/online_pubs/press_releases/2009/pr0212_hsgstats.html *See supporting data: http://www.wra.org/pdf/online_publications/Q408release_supporting_data_tables.pdf

— Backers of the measure call it “tax fairness” and closing the “Las Vegas loophole” while opponents, mainly Republicans and the business community, call instituting “combined reporting” for multi-state corporations a jobs-killer.

Both sides agree it will result in higher revenue to the cash-strapped state budget — to the tune of millions of dollars a year. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce says the switch to “combined corporate income tax reporting” would require businesses to pay taxes on profits earned by subsidiaries in other states with no connection to Wisconsin. The switch to combined corporate income tax reporting could increase business taxes by as much as $100 million, WMC adds.

Gov. Jim Doyle, talking with reporters after addressing the Wisconsin Manufacturer’s and Commerce Business Day in Madison, spoke about the combined reporting proposal included in the state stimulus bill unveiled Feb. 11.

The Democratic governor indicated it was part of a compromise to put together the package.

“I think you all know this has never been … part of my agenda, I’ve never proposed it,” Doyle said.

“But I do think we’re at a time where we … need revenue and I think there’s fairness to it,” Doyle said.

See more on the impact of the measure in a new WisBusiness feature: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=149023

— A little more than a year after University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists showed they could turn skin cells back into stem cells, they have pulsating proof that these “induced” stem cells can indeed form the specialized cells that make up heart muscle.

In a study published in Circulation Research, a journal of the American Heart Association, UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health professor of medicine Tim Kamp and his research team showed that they were able to grow working heart-muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) from induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells.

The heart cells were originally reprogrammed from human skin cells by James Thomson and Junying Yu, two of Kamp’s co-authors on the study.

See the UW-Madison release : http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=149024

— The new agricultural census, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture using data from 2007, ranks Wisconsin as the ninth largest state when it comes to sales of agricultural commodities. The USDA conducts an agricultural census every five years to determine the number, size and value of U.S. farms. It also asks what kinds of livestock and crops are being raised.

“While other states may have more farmland acres, Wisconsin’s ranking in the top 10 ag states comes from a diversified farm sector,” said Bill Bruins, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. “While the dairy industry is still king here, few other states can boast a variety of farm commodities that include corn, cranberries, cucumbers, cherries and cabbage. This kind of diversity is good for strong rural communities, in addition to our state’s overall economy.”

See the WFBF release for more: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=148971

— A software application for the iPhone and the iPod touch that will help people sleep and wake up more effectively won the $10,000 top prize in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity, an annual University of Wisconsin-Madison invention competition that rewards innovative and marketable ideas.

Additionally, a new type of soft-drink vending machine won first place and $2,500 in the Tong Prototype Prize, which rewards the best prototype in the competition. Developed by mechanical engineering senior Michael Deau, the Eco Stream system will integrate digital technology with environmental values, allowing people to reuse plastic or steel bottles and pay for their drinks via Web-based accounts.

See more from UW-Madison: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=149039

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REGISTER NOW: FOCUS ON MIDWEST ENERGY CONFERENCE II
Feb. 23, 2009 at Monona Terrace in Madison

Conference includes: U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin; Obama environmental adviser Howard Learner; Gary Mar, Alberta’s official representative to the United States; and David K. Owens, executive vice president of business operations at the Edison Electric Institute. For more information, see a recent press release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=147100

For more information or to register, contact Jim Greer at 608-237-6296 or greer@wispolitics.com.

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