Early History
The notion of an interstate dairy compact was first conceived in the Vermont House Agriculture Committee in January of 1988 by Vermont Representative Robert A. Starr. The Compact itself was developed jointly by legislators in Vermont, Maine and New York. The chief legislative authors were Representative Starr and now U.S. Congressman John McHugh, (R-NY). The staff included the Compact Commission’s Executive Director Dan Smith, then the Vermont House Agriculture Committee’s Legislative Counsel and Eric Rasmussen, current Market Order #1 Administrator, Tom Conway and Herb Kling, all then with Congressman McHugh's staff. During this beginning stage, Representative Starr and then State Senator McHugh oversaw the process of research and drafting of the first Compact legislation.

The first phase of the Compact effort was completed with the initial legislative passage in Vermont and Maine in 1989-90. Compact legislation passed unanimously in the Vermont House and 29-1 in the Vermont Senate. Representative Starr was assisted by Senator Francis Howrigan, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in obtaining passage of the Compact bill in Vermont. Maine passed legislation 114-1 in the House and unanimously in the Senate. Representative Robert Tardy, Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, was the Compact's sponsor and chief proponent in Maine, assisted by Peter Curra from the Department of Agriculture.

The Compact continued to gather support throughout New England and New York in 1990-91. During that period, single state pricing programs were implemented in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, but all were eventually overturned as the result of court action.

With the joint realization in 1992 that states must indeed work collectively to achieve their goal, the New England commissioners of agriculture, Rep. Starr, now-Congressman McHugh, and dairy industry leaders joined to form the Northeast Interstate Compact Committee. The Commissioners originally serving on the Commission were John R. Blum (CT), Bernard Shaw (ME), Greg Watson (MA), Stephen Taylor (NH), And George Dunsmore (VT). The Chairs of St. Albans Coop, Harold Howrigan, and Agrimark, Inc., Carl Peterson, were designated to serve as Co-chairs of the committee. Independent producers Gordon Cook from Massachusetts and Ron Morrissette from Vermont rounded out the committee membership. Mr. Smith was hired as the committee’s Executive Director to oversee the process of the Compact’s review by the four remaining New England state legislatures of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

The text of the Compact was amended substantially as the Compact evolved into a partnership between the two milk-exporting states, Maine and Vermont, and the four other milk-importing states. 1993 was an exciting time as the six states, realizing their common interest in regulating farm milk prices, successfully translated by joint amendment of the Compact this common purpose into legislation.

The six New England governors also became actively involved during this phase. Their interest was sparked by their understanding of the Compact as a model of regional, interstate cooperation, in addition to their perception of its more specific, dairy industry-based, regulatory need. The governors committed to the Compact by adopting a resolution in support of it in February 1993. In that resolution, the governors declared,
 

Following the leadership of the governors, legislation was adopted overwhelmingly in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island in 1993. In addition to the governors' support, as with its original passage in Vermont and Maine, the Compact's adoption in the four remaining states was attributable to the active leadership of a legislative sponsor and the assistance of key administrative officials and industry leaders.

In Connecticut, Commissioner Blum played the crucial role in shepherding the bill through three legislative committees. He was assisted by a broad coalition of supporters, including bankers, sports-persons, as well as farmers, with Marie Nye, dairy farmer, providing key leadership in marshalling this support. In New Hampshire, Senator George Disnard and Representative Marilyn Campbell were the chief legislative sponsors. Commissioner Taylor provided technical expertise, and Debora Erb, dairy farmer from Landaff, coordinated the coalition of support for the legislative process. Bob Wellington, Agri-Mark Vice President for Legislative Affairs, played an important role in New Hampshire, as well as in Connecticut.

In Massachusetts, Governor Weld played a particularly critical role in obtaining passage of the Compact. Representative Steve Angelo and Senator Bob Durand, co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment, were the Compact's chief legislative sponsors. Coordinated by Commissioner Jay Healy, the coalition of support included Jack Kelly, Dan Stevens and dairy farmers Warren and Sandy Facey. In Rhode Island, Representative Stephen Anderson was almost single-handedly responsible for the Compact's adoption. He was aided by Commissioner John Lawrence, Lee Gardner and Louis Escobar, dairy farmer.

With the enactment of the Compact by the six New England states completed, the focus shifted to obtaining the necessary approval from Congress.

Senator Patrick Leahy, (D-VT) introduced the Compact as legislation in the U.S. Senate in the spring of 1994, on behalf of the entire 12-member New England delegation, with each of the other members as cosponsors. Following the farmer/consumer partnership design of the Compact, Rep. John Olver (D-MA) also introduced the Compact as a Bill on the House side, with 21 of the 23 New England Members as cosponsors.

This sponsorship represented an unusual, if not unique, united gesture of support by a most diverse group of House-Senate Members. These 33 of the 35 members of the New England delegation provided their sponsorship for the Compact without regard to party or economic philosophy. It was commonly understood that the glue of this consensus among the New England delegation was the fact of its enactment by acclamation by all six New England legislatures, combined with the active support of all the region’s governors.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations, and the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed the Compact legislation in the spring and summer of 1994. The Compact cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voice vote and passed by a 5-5 vote out of the House Judiciary Subcommittee. However, the Compact never made it to the floor that year as it was among the fatalities of the 1994 Congressional gridlock.

The Compact was introduced again in the new Congress in 1995, although this time, only on the Senate side. The legislation was introduced by Senator James Jeffords (I-VT), and was again cosponsored by the entire New England Senate delegation.

The New England governors again expressed their strong support for the Compact by a resolution calling for Congressional approval. The governors declared,
 

Though the Compact was never formally considered in Committee during the 1995 session, it was the object of much review and comment because of the on-going Farm Bill debate.

In the summer, Governor Dean of Vermont, Governor King of Maine, and Governor Weld of Massachusetts made presentations to a Farm Bill Forum on the Compact. The governors spoke to a packed room of Members and the staff of some 65 other Members, identifying the importance of the Compact to their respective states, and answering the claims of the opposition presenters.

In the fall of 1995, the Compact was added by Senate amendment to the Budget Reconciliation Act by a vote of 65-34, just shy of two thirds of the Senate. However, all provisions relating to dairy were ultimately stripped from the budget measure in Conference. In any event, the President ultimately vetoed the Budget Reconciliation Act.

Congressional Approval
Congress took the Farm Bill back up for consideration in February of 1996. The Compact was included in the Senate version of the Farm Bill (Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act) that made it to the floor for consideration. The Senate, however, stripped the Compact from the bill by amendment, by a vote of 50-46, and passed the Farm Bill without the Compact legislation. Following the Senate passage of the Farm Bill, the measure went to conference and through the combined leadership of Conference Chair Senator Lugar and Ranking Member Senator Leahy, the Compact was restored on March 21, 1996. Congress approved the Farm Bill Conference Report with the Compact included, on March 28, 1996. The President signed the legislation into law on April 4, 1996.

During the eight-year process of combined state and federal review, the Compact was the subject of approximately thirty, formal, legislative votes with only one negative vote ever cast. The combined, individual vote tally was roughly 1300-125 in its favor
 
 

Secretary Glickman Finds Compact in the Compelling Public Interest
 Included within the Conference Report were a number of Congressional conditions of consent, among which was a requirement that, before the Compact could be implemented, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture must review the legislation to determine if there was a "compelling public interest" for the Compact in the Compact region.

Soon after the Farm Bill became law, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman set a comment period with a deadline of June 3, 1996, to make the "compelling public interest" determination. As a result, the Secretary received just under 1,400 comments in favor of the Compact from New England and only 8 comments in opposition to the Compact. In addition, Secretary Glickman received 220 comments in support of the Compact from beyond the Compact region and 95 in opposition to it.

On August 9, 1996, Secretary Glickman issued the following finding:
 

Commission Organized
In May and June of 1996, the governors of each state in the Compact region each appointed a delegation of between three and five persons to be prepared to serve as its representation on the Compact Commission once the Secretary has made the finding. With the full Commission of 26 members in place, the organization set to work on establishing the formal set-up of the Commission and bylaws to use as guidelines for Compact Commission activities and rulemaking. This process was accomplished over an approximate four-month period which included the Commission’s first four organizational meetings.

The first meeting of the Northeast Dairy Compact Commission was held on September 12, 1996 in Concord, New Hampshire. This first gathering was an informal organizational meeting at which Commission members formed four subcommittees: a Bylaws Subcommittee, Regulatory Procedures Subcommittee, Administrative and Finance Subcommittee, and Officers and Executive Nominations Subcommittee. Each subcommittee was appointed tasks to be completed for review by the following meeting.

The second meeting of the Commission was held on October 17, 1996. Commission members reviewed a proposed draft price regulation procedure as well as a producer referendum provision and petition process for administrative review by the handlers. Commission members also reviewed how the Commission would finance administration of the Compact, existing debts, current and on-going litigation costs, as well as an on-going budget. The Commission voted to initiate a process to impose an administrative assessment on Class I fluid milk marketed in the New England region in the amount of one-tenth of one percent of the blend price, with the first assessment to be noticed by November 5^th for December milk receipts. Commission members considered staffing issues and discussed proposals for the election of officers and the establishment of a Committee on Administration.

During the third organizational Commission meeting that was held on November 19, 1996 in Concord, New Hampshire, members reviewed and made changes to proposed bylaws. The bylaws were then approved unanimously by the Commission. The Commission elected a board of officers at this meeting. Michael Wiers, consumer representative from Maine was elected as Chair; Mae Schmidle, consumer representative from Connecticut was elected Vice-Chair; Mary Kassler, consumer representative from Massachusetts was elected Secretary; and Powell Cabot, processor representative from New Hampshire was elected Treasurer. Aaron Briggs, farmer representative from Rhode Island and Harold Howrigan, farmer representative from Vermont were elected to the two At-Large positions on the Committee on Administration. The Commission then appointed Dan Smith as the Commission’s Executive Director.

Following the organizational process at the November meeting, the Commission then decided to initiate a Compact over-order price regulation proceeding and concluded that two "subjects and issues" hearings should be held on December 17 and 19 at separate locations representing northern and southern New England. Finally, the Commission discussed the possibility of receiving financing from a group of Vermont banks, decided to hold an informal meeting with processors in December, and ratified the imposition of the administrative assessment adopted at the October meeting.

The fourth Commission meeting was held in Northborough, Massachusetts on December 19. The Treasurer and Executive Director presented a preliminary budget to provide for bare-bones expenses and legal services, and noted that they had negotiated a bank loan for $200,000 with a group of banks on favorable terms. The Commission then adopted a resolution providing for the execution of the loan agreement. Members approved a contract for the Executive Director’s position. And a new Bylaws Subcommittee was appointed in case technical corrections to the bylaws needed to be made.

Once the bylaws were set in place and the administration of the Compact Commission was established, the Commission began holding meetings on a monthly basis in order to conduct business operations relevant to the Compact and initiate rule-making procedures.