Sunday, September 9, 2001

For more information, contact: Jen Waller, Communications Assistant 859-288-6154 or http://gov.state.ky.us/sga/index.htm

SOUTHERN GOVERNORS RENEW CALL FOR CONGRESS TO PASS SOUTHERN DAIRY COMPACT

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The southern governors today renewed their call for Congress to pass legislation to establish a Southern Dairy Compact. Milk prices to dairy farmers have plummeted from an average $0.52 a gallon in 1980 to $0.29 in 2000, prompting the governors to renew their policy resolution on this issue.

Governor M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr. of Louisiana said, "If we hope to maintain a strong supply of milk and a competitive environment for our small dairy farmers, Congress needs to pass this compact. It will not only help keep farmers in business, but will also stabilize prices for consumers."

The governor noted that Congress originally authorized a Northeast Dairy Compact in 1996, and renewed it in late 1999, which serves as a good model for how the southern compact would operate. The state legislatures in 14 of the 16 contiguous southern states have passed legislation endorsing the compact, which now awaits action by Congress. The federal legislation allows for states which authorize participation in a compact to join a regional commission composed of state delegations of three to five persons, with at least one dairy farmer and one consumer to stabilize seasonal shifts in milk prices.

The Southern states that have approved participation in a compact are Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Founded in 1934, the Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and historically largest of the regional governors' associations. The mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and regional problems. The association's membership is composed of the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.