Paul Patton on Budget & Economy Former Democratic KY Governor

Let state meat inspection suffice for interstate shipments.

• WHEREAS, The federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Act prohibits the interstate shipment of state inspected meat and poultry products; and
• WHEREAS, Twenty-five states, including eight in the Midwest, have developed individual state inspection programs for plants which do not currently participate in the interstate shipment of meat and poultry products; and
• WHEREAS, Despite meeting federal requirements enforced through a state program, the lack of federal program approval prohibits these smaller state inspected plants from shipping beef, pork, poultry, sheep, lamb, or goat products in commerce across state lines; and
• WHEREAS, This restriction unfairly and severely limits the smaller plants’ marketing options, particularly in the burgeoning Internet market; and
• WHEREAS, The Midwestern Governors strongly support meat and poultry inspection plans that protect public health; now therefore be it
• RESOLVED, That the Midwestern Governors urge Congress to pass legislation that removes this unfair marketing barrier but continues to insure safe meat and poultry products.

More federal funding for FAA and air traffic control.

The nation’s Governors urge the Conference Committee on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization to quickly complete action on a multiyear reauthorization of the FAA and Airport Improvement Program (AIP) that invests dedicated airport and airways trust fund revenues for their intended purposes.

Governors support efforts to ensure that dedicated revenues are immediately made available to address key safety and congestion issues. The current lapse in the program has already jeopardized numerous airport improvement projects, and we urge conferees to quickly resolve their differences. The airport and airway trust fund can support significantly higher funding for both AIP and the Air Traffic Control Modernization program. We ask you to increase funding levels for these programs by applying the airport and airways trust fund receipts for their intended purpose.

Governors, along with our partners in the Coalition for TRUST (Transportation Revenues Used Solely for Transportation) - a broad coalition of business, labor, farm, and state and local officials - recognize that insufficient investment in transportation jeopardizes economic growth. Furthermore, the Governors recognize the safety, security, and other broad public benefits provided by the FAA and support a guarantee of continued general funding for FAA operations.

On behalf of the nation’s governors and the TRUST Coalition, we ask for your help in completing a conference on this critical legislation to end the current lapse in funding for this crucial program.

Protect local milk supplies with Southern Dairy Compact.

• Whereas, the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia have all enacted the Southern Dairy Compact as state legislation; and,
• Whereas, these states adopted the Southern Dairy Compact in response to the hemorrhaging loss of the region’s milk supply, whereby every state must now import milk from outside the region to supply at least part of its beverage milk needs, with Alabama and South Carolina supplying less than half their fluid needs; and,
• Whereas, establishment of this form of interstate compact is the formal, constitutionally authorized means for a region to address interstate issues of common concern in the public interest; and,
• Whereas, these states each adopted the Southern Dairy Compact because the Compact strikes the appropriate balance among all the interests involved in the regional dairy marketplace, including those of consumers, processors, retailers and farmers alike; and,
• Whereas, the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact has operated successfully as a pilot project in the six New England states since 1996, stabilizing that region’s dairy industry in the manner anticipated for the south under the Southern Dairy Compact; and,
• Whereas, southern dairy farmers are experiencing particularly dislocating farm price swings and depressed overall pay prices which are expected to continue throughout 2000 and which will certainly result in an even greater loss of the region’s milk supply without response under the Southern Dairy Compact; now, therefore, be it
• Resolved, That the Southern Governors’ Association formally petitions Congress to approve the Southern Dairy Compact.

Foster dairy production that is market driven.

• WHEREAS, the Federal Milk Marketing Order System was created in 1937 to provide economic incentives to dairy farmers in order to provide sufficient fresh fluid milk for all Americans; and
• WHEREAS, the Federal Milk Marketing Order System has served its original purpose and the creation of the Interstate Highway System and refrigeration trucks have allowed fresh fluid milk to be easily transported throughout the country; and
• WHEREAS, studies show that dairy producers in the Midwest have comparative advantages that allow them to produce products more economically than dairy producers in other regions, yet under current conditions, our family dairy farmers and our states’ dairy infrastructure are at risk; and
• WHEREAS, the dairy industries in our states provide a vital underpinning of our states’ economies; and
• WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture should foster dairy production that is market driven; and
• WHEREAS, the 1996 Farm Bill charged the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to substantially reform and simplify the Federal Milk Marketing Order System; and
• WHEREAS, regional pricing solutions, such as compacts, could impede efforts to promote a market-oriented system and erect barriers to the export of dairy products from our states; now therefore be it
• RESOLVED, that the United States Department of Agriculture move forward to implement a new, streamlined system that more closely reflects the true national dairy market and that does not provide an unjustified pricing advantage or disadvantage to any region of the country.