Lawmakers' focus is back on high gasoline prices By Melanie Fonder For The News-Chronicle WASHINGTON - Recalling the battle over last summer's sky-high gas prices, lawmakers are already bracing for another round of the same this summer. After the Department of Energy warned that low crude oil and gasoline stocks could cause prices at the pump to rise, Reps. Tom Barrett, D-Milwaukee, and Gerry Kleczka, D-Milwaukee, asked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Secretary Christine Todd Whitman and Energy Secretary Spence Abraham to monitor the supply and price, specifically of reformulated gas (RFG) in the Milwaukee area. "The administration needs to take steps now to prevent a gas shortage crisis this summer," Barrett said in a statement. "It must take a proactive and balanced approach to keep down prices at the gas pump and aggressively ensure an adequate supply of reformulated gas from the refineries to our area." Kleczka and Barrett also asked for a waiver on requiring RFG if a shortage is determined to exist in the Milwaukee area. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., introduced a measure last week with Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, to allow the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prosecute foreign nations who are part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) who engage in price fixing on petroleum products. "People suffer real consequences every day in our nation because of OPEC's actions," Kohl said in a statement. "Rising gas prices - prices that averaged above $2 per gallon in many places last summer - are a silent tax that takes hard-earned money away from Americans every time they visit the gas pump. The FTC also issued its final report from the investigation into whether oil refiners or distributors engaged in price-fixing in the Midwest. While the commission found no illegal activity, it did find that companies took advantage of the situation by keeping RFG supply tight. HOUSE HELPS MARRIED TAXPAYERS On Thursday, the House passed another segment of President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut package that would eliminate the penalty married couples pay extra in their taxes. The bill, passed on a 282-144 vote, also would increase the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, said the tax cut package would also help stimulate the flagging economy. "We're moving forward at a quick pace because our economy needs this tax relief too," Green said in a statement. "It's the shot in the arm we need during this current period of economic uncertainty." All four Wisconsin Republicans voted for the measure, as did Barrett. Reps. David Obey, D-Wausau, Kleczka and Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, voted against it. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, missed the vote due to the death of her grandmother. CAMPAIGN REFORM VOTE TODAY After years of pushing for his bill to reform the influence of money in politics, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Janesville, could finally reap the benefits when the Senate votes on the measure after two weeks of debate today. Watch next week's column for a behind-the-scenes look at the implications of the result. Melanie Fonder, a former News-Chronicle reporter, is a staff writer for the Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers Capitol Hill. Her column appears here Mondays. Write to her at [email protected].