Senator Joe Pennacchio

July 16, 2009   

Contact: Bill Murray / (609) 292-5199
Senator Joe Pennacchio

Another Stupid Regulation that Hurts Consumers in NJ

Senator Joe Pennacchio, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, called upon the Corzine Administration to join 45 other states in the nation and abandon the state-enforced ban on retail coupons for milk. Senator Pennacchio has introduced legislation to end the ban on retail milk coupons (S-2772), which is now pending in the Senate Commerce Committee. This is the second release in a continuing series, concerning laws, rules and regulations that hurt consumers and businesses in New Jersey.

“Any government that is big enough to have its own ‘milk police’ to harass grocers who issue milk coupons is too big,” Pennacchio said. “New Jersey has no problem letting companies give out coupons for cigarettes. Yet it forbids coupons that reduce the price of milk for middle-class families — this defies common sense.”

“The milk coupon ban is an archaic and anti-consumer throwback to a bygone age. If retailers want to reduce the price on milk as part of a larger marketing strategy to get people to shop in their stores, the dead hand of the state government should not drive up prices for consumers, especially during a recession,” Pennacchio stated.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the number of dairy farms in New Jersey has fallen by one-half over the last decade to 104. The 2007 Census of Agriculture prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service indicates that there were 307 dairy farms in New Jersey as recently as 1997.

“The milk coupon ban has done nothing to stem the loss of dairy farms in this state,” Pennacchio continued. “If the Corzine Administration — which once wanted to abolish the Department of Agriculture, really wanted to protect the economic viability of dairy farmers, they would stop worrying about milk coupons, reverse their anti-farmer tax and budget policies, and repair New Jersey’s reputation as a horrible place to do business, including agri-business.”

Another Stupid Regulation that Hurts Consumers in NJ Senator Joe Pennacchio, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, called upon the Corzine Administration to join 45 other states in the nation and abandon the state-enforced ban on retail coupons for milk. Senator Pennacchio [...]