Notwithstanding the clarity of the case law on-point, the response of state public policy makers to the pricing crisis of the late 1980s was resort to the traditional avenue of single-state price regulation. By the end of 1989, all of the New England states and New York, except for Rhode Island, established individual "over-order" price regulations intended to allow for the enhancement of producer income beyond that provided by federal regulation. (The Rhode Island legislature also considered the issue and failed only at the very end to adopt a similar program.)
Not surprisingly, litigation quickly followed these legislative actions. In 1989, the Massachusetts and New York price regulations were challenged in court and the issue of the constitutionality of individual state regulation was again placed in the forefront of public debate.
While this process of individual state action was occurring throughout New England and New York, the Vermont legislature initiated a novel legislative approach to the problem. Vermont retained a vital and unusual intrastate dependence on dairy farming as of the late 1980s. At the same time, Vermont dairy farmers were the primary suppliers for the overall, regional New England marketplace. It was thus logical for the Vermont Legislature to approach the problem from a regional as well as local perspective.