A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 24, .1999
(Continued from Page A 1)
guest speaker Eugene Hickok,
state secretary of education; Pa.
Public Utilities Commissioner
Aaron Wilson who dealt with a
range of questions from a work
shop audience on PUC dealings,
from deregulated electricity and
rural cooperatives to telephone
changes; and Gordon Hiller, past
master of the state Grange who
now serves as president of the
Grange Service Corporation, who
talked about Grange services to a
workshop audience.
The pro-Compact rally started
the Grange event. It was intro
duced by state Grange Master Wil
liam Steel, who has been actively
pursuing the issue and promoting
passage of legislation.
In addition to the supporters,
there were several political leaders
who normally attend such func
tions who did not attend. However,
there were other concerns Monday
as the state Legislature was in
active session on Monday to con
sider a number of different issues,
including the Compact legislation.
When session is active, it becomes difficult for
many elected representatives to attend such spe
cial events, as well as for lobbyists.
During the pro-Compact rally, respective
sponsors of Senate and House Compact
legislation state Sen. Roger Madigan and
state Rep. Sandra Major spoke about the need
for passage of legislation and the need for Pen
nsylvania to join.
Also speaking was state Sen. William Slocum,
majority chairman of the Senate Agriculture and
Rural Affairs Committee, who said he also sup
ports the Compact
Sen. Slocum said it had been his pleasure to
work with Sen. Madigan while the bill was in the
Senate Ag Committee, to help get it moved out
and on track for full Senate consideration.
(Madigan’s Senate bill had been considered
by the Senate Appropriations Committee which
promptly moved it out for full Senate considera
tion on April 12. The bill was to have been
approved by the Senate this week on third con
sideration and be forwarded to the House of Rep
resentatives for its consideration. The House has
been considering Rep. Major’s and Rep. Italo
Cappabianca’s similarly proposed pieces of
legislation, though they remained in the House
Agriculture Committee.)
Sen. Slocum repeated a statement he made
earlier in the year regarding the Compact legisla
tion: “In a lot of rural areas, the Compact (if it is
expanded to encompass Pennsylvania) will be
farmland preservation for us. It is also economic
development”
National Grange Master Kermit Richardson
also spoke out in favor of the Compact He noted
that the National Grange was the lead organiza
tion in promoting the concept of establishing a
dairy compact, using Constitutional authorities
for such organization.
He said that the Northeast Dairy Compact has
been through a series of challenges and has won
them all, meaning it has demonstrated its legal
authority. It has benefited not just one state, but
other states as well, he said.
He noted that when other dairy farmers were
receiving low prices, Compact farmers received
a higher price and consumers didn’t suffer, and
while milk prices were at their all-time high, the
Compact pice didn’t limit farmer income.
Further, he said opponents to the Compact
may claim that it is destabilizing for consumer
prices, though he said Compact retail prices have
stayed stable at about $2.70 per gallon.
The Compact pricing doesn’t affect the
Women Infants and Children program (WIC) for
purchasing inexpensive milk; that schools are
held harmless from increased retail pricing; and
it offers no net cost to the federal or any state
government
While surplus milk in the Compact region
resulted in farmers being assessed to reimburse
the Commodity Credit Corporation for removals
of excess dairy commodity supplies, Richardson
said 99.8 percent of the surplus milk purchased
by the CCC last year in the Compact area came
from outside the Compact (meaning it was
shipped in).
He also said that dairy farmers in Pennsy Ivani
a have waited long enough for stable pricing and
that they should stop listening to Compact
However, he urged supporters
to not stop their lobbying efforts,
noting that even if Gov. Tom
Ridge does sign Compact law for
Pennsylvania, its still requires the
approval of the U.S. House and
Senate, and opposition in
Washington D.C. is strong.
He said that if the Pennsylvania
delegation were to have its state
support inclusion in the Compact it
may help motivate them to support
the Compact, or help their cause if
they already intend to do so.
There was no time to hear from
the others representing organiza
tions with pro-Compact policies,
though they were recognized.
The Compact sets a floor price
for dairy farmers’ pay for beverage
milk. Dairy fanners produce and
deliver milk for use without any
guarantees of selling price.
They get paid after the milk is
used. If it is later discovered that
there was too much milk supplied
for market demand, the farmer
receives less; if the milk supplied
wasn’t enough to supply demand,
(Turn to P»g* A 23)
From the left, state Sen. Roger Madigan, National Grange Master Kermit Richard
son, state Grange Master William Steel, and state Sen. William Slocum.
Grange Day Celebratlo
it't