The Commission began with a “Subjects and Issues’ rulemaking proceeding drawn from the Compact finding requirements, and held its first public hearing in December 1996. In its formal notice for the hearing and at the hearing itself, the Commission inquired into the many subjects and issues called for by the findings. These included:
The balance between production and consumption in the Compact region; the costs of producing, processing, marketing, and distributing milk in the Compact region, whether produced inside or outside the region; the farm, wholesale, and retail prices of milk in the Compact region; the purchasing power of the public; the nature of relevant government programs distributing milk; the transmission of changes in the price of raw milk to the price of retail milk; and possible methods of managing the milk supply in the Compact region in the event a price regulation was implemented.[1]
Early the following year, the Commission issued a further Subjects and Issues notice request. This request included further comments on:
Historical data relating to the milk market; more information on prices, particularly as they related to transport over long distances; the impact of a flat, regulated price on the market; the Commission’s responsibility to reimburse the CCC for increases in New England milk production;[2] further information on methods of supply management; and other related issues.[3]