Wisconsin ’s minimum markup requirement for motor vehicle fuel is likely to stay in place after a state legislative panel refused last week to repeal it.

Adopted during the Depression era, the rule requires wholesalers to charge fuel stations at least 3 percent more than they paid. Stations in turn must add on at least 6 percent more at the pump.

The Wisconsin law was designed to prevent businesses from selling at a loss in order to drive out competitors.

But the Senate Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy Committee voted 3-2 not to advance the effort to end the mandatory markup.

The Coalition for Lower Gas Prices, a group that includes government and business – including Wal-Mart and Murphy Oil – is pushing for an end to the mandatory markup.

Craig M. Thompson, legislative director for the Wisconsin Counties Association, recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revising the markup law would be a way to reduce fuel prices without cutting sales tax on fuel, which pays for road work.

The Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, a group representing 2,000 fueling stations, convenience stores and automotive businesses, likes the law as it is.

Robert Bartlett, the group’s president, told the newspaper consumers benefit from the current law because more competitors stay in business, saving consumers money through price competition.

Despite the Senate panel’s refusal to advance the measure – SB215 – the issue may not be over just yet. A similar version of the bill is in the Assembly.

AB505 is sitting in the Joint Committee on Finance. If ultimately approved by both houses of the Legislature, it would head to Gov. Jim Doyle, who has said he would sign it.