Forget about all the conspiracy theories about oil speculators and Big Oil. Your friendly neighborhood gas station could not lower its prices if it wanted to.

Even as the price of gasoline hovers around $4 per gallon, the Legislature dithers on whether to repeal an archaic law that keeps the price of gasoline artificially high. It is not like the law is universally loved. There is bipartisan support for its repeal.

State Reps. Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, and Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, have teamed up with state Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, to introduce the Competitive Marketplace Act (AB 820) to repeal the minimum markup requirement. Gov. Jim Doyle has been opposed to the minimum markup since his days as attorney general.

Last week the Wisconsin Institute for Leadership called on the governor to call a special session of the Legislature to repeal the minimum markup law. WIL Executive Director Brian Fraley said, "If the governor were to bring this issue to the forefront now, I’m confident this ridiculous law would be wiped off the books forever. With families and businesses feeling tremendous pain at the pump, now is the time to repeal the minimum markup law."

On Tuesday, representatives Kramer and Vukmir also called on the governor to call for a special session. Commenting on a proposed repeal, Kramer said, "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."

There are some in the Legislature who still cling to the law as a way of protecting "mom and pop" gas stations from the supposed predations of large retailers like Wal-Mart. However anti-trust laws already protect the mom and pop gas stations from collusion.

Meanwhile the law that some members of the Legislature are trying to protect is already under constitutional challenge. In 2007 a federal magistrate found that the law violates the commerce clause, yet the law remains in force in Wisconsin.

Of course, there are some within the Democratic coalition that like high gas prices. They point to how much driving habits are changing, the rise in public transportation use and the move to smaller cars.

Let them defend their desire for higher gas prices out in the open of public debate. Let them explain directly to Wisconsin families how out of one side of their mouths they can complain about the profits of big oil while they fight to keep a state law mandating those profits.

The truth is, they won’t. Under the glare of the public eye, the Legislature will be forced to act to repeal this archaic law or suffer the wrath of an electorate paying heavily at the pump.

When the governor announced that he would no longer enforce the minimum markup law for ethanol, the only voices raised in opposition were those who felt the repeal should have occurred as an act of the Legislature, not by just ignoring the law. If the Legislature acts now, it can fix that injury to the law and bring Wisconsin consumer law into the 21st century.

So now the ball is in the governor’s court. Will he do the right thing and call the special session so Wisconsin consumers can finally get a break? Or will this be like the gambling issue, and will the governor flip-flop while getting a few pieces of silver in his campaign coffers from the independent gas retailers?