Press Release May 12, 1999	Contact: Elisa Odabashian 415-431-6747 Consumers Union West Coast Regional Office

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee yesterday passed a bill by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) to require a monthly milk price survey of retailers throughout the state. The committee voted 6-2 in favor of SB 419. The Senate Appropriations Committee will consider the bill in the next two weeks.

As originally drafted, SB 419 would have repealed the state's current law barring stores from selling milk as a low-cost special. After the industry coordinated the bill's defeat last month in a Senate committee, Sen. Speier amended the bill. Consumers Union supports the amended version.

In its amended form, SB 419 requires the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to conduct a monthly milk price survey of 100 retailers throughout the state. The information will be posted on the CDFA's web site, and will be available through a toll-free telephone number.

"This bill would be a step forward in our campaign to help California consumers find cheaper milk," said Elisa Odabashian, policy analyst with Consumers Union. "By making this information publicly available, we hope to put pressure on the biggest and most expensive retailers to lower their milk prices."

Consumers Union intends to continue its campaign to repeal the sales-below-cost prohibition through future legislation.

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit testing and information organization, serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health, nutrition, and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers.