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Posted: Sunday, April 30th, 2006 6:29 AM HST

Hawaii's gas cap headed for suspension

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ Hawaii's weekly cap on wholesale gasoline prices will soon be history after a committee of lawmakers passed a bill to suspend the law indefinitely. Senate and House lawmakers announced a compromise on the bill minutes before a midnight deadline Friday night after several months of wrangling. The new bill requires final approval of the full House and Senate on Tuesday. The original law _ which went into effect in September _ imposed weekly caps on prices based on a five-day average of wholesale prices in Los Angeles, New York and the Gulf Coast. But House lawmakers said the law wasn't working and called for an end to the cap early on in the session. Under the new bill, the law would be kept on the books on standby for use if the governor decides it should be brought back. (Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)