If the price-support program results in consumer prices that are higher over the long run than they would be in a free market, then the social cost is still greater. Along with federal legislation, statutes to effect the same general objectives have been enacted in several states. In April 1933, New York became the first to pass a state law regulating minimum producer, wholesale, and retail milk prices, and 25 other states had taken similar action by the end of the 1930s. At least 10 wrote clauses into their original bills that fixed a date beyond which the law could not be extended without legisla- tive review and renewal. Milk control was a controversial sub- ject in several states, and some state supreme courts declared the laws unconstitutional.
State laws vary considerably in how they set prices, which trade practices they regulate, and so on.
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