The Pacific Research Institute recently put out a white paper titled “State-Level Lobbying and Taxpayers: How Much Do We Really Know?” The report looks at lobbying by tax-payer funded or partially taxpayer-funded groups. The amount of money put into state level lobbying does not reach that of the federal lobbying community, but is still significant.
An excerpt from the 92-page paper:
“There is broad and well developed research on private-sector interest groups and their associated lobbying however there is a disconcerting lack of research on government-financed or what has been called taxpayer-funded lobbying, conducted by public-sector groups. This is a critical oversight, given the stark differences between the private and public sectors.”
Here is the link to the whole white paper, which is worth a look. (note – large PDF file)
A note on PRI’s ideological stance: The Pacific Research Institute states that its mission is “to champion freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free-market policy solutions.”
Tags: Lobbying, state lobbying, tax-payers
