Lobbying activity declines among top special interests
As election season spools up and an already lethargic Congress readies for recess, federal lobbying efforts among elite special interests are sputtering, too.
About three-fifths of the nation’s top 100 lobbying entities spent less during this year’s second quarter than they did during the same period in 2013, according to a Center for Public Integrity of analysis of new congressional disclosure reports and Center for Responsive Politics data. Spending by several others remained stagnant.
Unlike last year at this time, members of Congress are more concerned about getting re-elected than passing legislation.
The second-quarter thriftiness reverses what amounted to a modest spending uptick earlier this year, at least among lobbying powerhouses.
The American Medical Association ($3.9 million, down from $4.3 million during the second quarter of 2013), American Hospital Association ($4.4 million, down from $5 million) and General Electric ($2.8 million, down from $3.6 million) rank among the top decliners.
The defense industry generally deployed less legislative firepower, with contractors United Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics cutting lobbying spending.
Many large oil and energy production interests also spent less, including Southern Co., Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Exelon Corp., Duke Energy and BP.
A surprise lobbying spender of 2013 — the upstart National Association for Gun Rights, which spent more than $3 million during last year’s second quarter and easily trumped the National Rifle Association in this regard — invested $1.24 million during this year’s second quarter.
Last year “was the biggest year on gun legislation in Congress in two decades, and NAGR was the main player in defeating every gun control measure anti-gun legislators tried to pass,” National Association for Gun Rights spokeswoman Danielle Thompson explained. “We will continue to fight against any infringement against our Second Amendment rights and push for repeal of anti-gun laws that are already in the books.”
Everytown for Gun Safety Action, the Michael Bloomberg-led group formerly known as Mayors Against Illegal Guns, spent just $100,000 from April to June after spending $580,000 during the same time frame last year.
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This story is part of Consider the Source. Seeking to ‘out’ shadowy political organizations flourishing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
