According to filings (due on July 20) of second quarter lobbying expenditures and earnings, big earners keep on raking in the dough to advocate for their clients. Environmental lobbying (especially as related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill) was up, and Chamber lobbying – astronomical for the past two quarters – has slowed considerably.
The top 10 lobbying earners (those reporting lobbying income) include: Patton Boggs; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Van Scoyoc Associates; Podesta Group; Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Holland & Knight; Cassidy & Associates; K&L Gates; Ogilvy Government Relations; and Dutko Worldwide.
Patton Boggs, topping the list with $10.07-million in reported earnings, is down just slightly quarter over quarter from January-March’s $10.51-million. However, as Roll Call reported, Patton Boggs’ mid-year numbers look very strong over the last half of last year.
Roll Call also found BP referring to the environmental disaster in the gulf as “the Gulf of Mexico incident,” which, to BP’s credit is more specific than they could have been. BP and many other entites reported lobbying the federal government on issues relating to the disaster. Among the many other interested parties (384 results turned up in a search for “oil spill” on 2nd Quarter reports) were: Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC, National Wildlife Federation, the National Tour Association, Shell Oil Corporation, and the City of Gulf Shores, Alabama. Specifically, 34 entities reported lobbying on “H.R. 5629 the Oil Spill Accountability and Environmental Protection Act of 2010.
This quarter, the Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. slowed down their lobbying efforts considerably. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose lobbying reports excited such comment last quarter (and the quarter before), reported only $9.48-million this quarter (as opposed to last quarter’s $25.12-million; the last quarter of 2009 was a staggering $71.19-million). The Chamber files using the most inclusive method, the IRC method, which includes expenditures on grassroots lobbying. Chamber lobbyist Bruce Josten pointed out the decline in the Chamber’s lobbying efforts corresponded with the passage of the Health Care bill (the Chamber opposed the measure).
Records are found at the Senate Office of Public Records. The Roll Call article referenced in this story is available here (subscription required).
*Numbers were accurate as of 7/21/2010, according to publicly available records from the Senate Office of Public Records
