Hordes of hired K Street guns are in high demand as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats seek to implement grand legislative plans.

And a Center for Responsive Politics review of lobbying reports recently filed with the Senate Office of Public Records indicates companies, trade associations, unions and other groups spent nearly $1 billion on lobbying during the first three months of 2010. That puts the current year on an early pace toward exceeding the record amount of money — about $3.47 billion — spent last year on federal lobbying efforts.

The $903 million spent between January 1 and March 31 is larger than overall lobbying expenses in three out of four quarters last year, and it represents an 11 percent increase from the $811 million spent on lobbying during the first three months of 2009.

Special interests spent about $19 million per day on lobbying efforts, the Center for Responsive Politics estimates, based on the number of calendar days that either the House or Senate was officially in session.

The staggering amount spent between January and March actually represents of about a 7 percent decrease from the nearly $970 million spent during the final quarter of 2009 when major legislation on health care, Wall Street reform and other issues experienced votes in either the House or Senate.

Nonetheless, business associations, health interests, energy companies and Wall Street firms all still invested more than $123 million a piece on lobbying efforts during the first three months of 2010.

The miscellaneous business sector, composed of business associations such as the high-spending U.S. Chamber of Commerce, led the way with $139 million. This is about a third more than these groups spent on lobbying during the first three months of 2009. As OpenSecrets Blog previously reported, the Chamber was also the top-spending client during the first quarter, dropping $30.9 million on its lobbying efforts. The Chamber’s lofty numbers are in part attributable to its reporting of federal, state-level and grassroots lobbying activity, whereas some entities only report federal lobbying work.

Next up behind business groups? Companies and special interest groups classified by the Center as part of the health sector.

These organizations spent about $138 million during the first quarter, when Congress passed and the president signed legislation designed to improve health insurance coverage and cover millions of Americans who are presently without health insurance. This represents a 7 percent increase in lobbying expenditures from the first quarter of 2009, and this quarterly sum is larger than the amount this sector spent on lobbying in all but the final quarter of 2009.

Here are the 10 clients in this sector that spent the most money on lobbying during the first quarter. (Note: Some lobbying clients may be classified as part of multiple sectors, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Therefore, money reported here is only money linked to subsidiaries within this sector. Please see the chart at bottom of this article for lobbying clients’ overall lobbying expenditures across all sectors or examine the company’s profile in our lobbying database.)

Client Q1 Health

Lobbying Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers

of America (PhRMA) $7,010,000 American Medical Association $6,360,000 Pfizer Inc. $4,340,000 American Hospital Association $4,115,000 Merck & Co. $3,220,000 Amgen Inc. $3,070,000 Blue Cross/Blue Shield $2,780,000 Sanofi-Aventis $2,500,000 Eli Lilly & Co. $2,290,000 GlaxoSmithKline $2,240,000

The energy and natural resources sector ranks as the next highest spender, with at least $128 million spent on lobbying services between January and March.

This sum represents the highest quarterly expenditures on lobbying during any point during the Obama administration. This figure amounts to an 18 percent increase from fourth-quarter lobbying expenditures and a 25 percent increase above what these groups spent during the first three months of 2009. Major legislation addressing energy and climate change issues passed the House last June but has lagged in the Senate.

Here are the 10 clients in this sector that spent the most money on lobbying during the first quarter. (Note: Some lobbying clients may be classified as part of multiple sectors. Therefore, money reported here is only money linked to subsidiaries within this sector. Please see the chart at bottom of this article for lobbying clients’ overall lobbying expenditures across all sectors or examine the company’s profile in our lobbying database.)

Client Q1 Energy

Lobbying PG&E Corp. $25,820,000 ConocoPhillips $6,408,978 Edison Electric Institute $4,160,000 Southern Co. $3,720,000 BP $3,530,000 Exxon Mobil $3,390,000 American Electric Power $3,278,715 Chevron Corp. $3,090,000 Royal Dutch Shell $2,320,000 Koch Industries $1,950,000

Additionally, the finance, insurance and real estate sector, which primarily includes Wall Street interests, spent more than $123 million on federal lobbying.

The expenditures come at a time when financial regulatory reform is a top priority of Democrats. This amount is larger than the quarterly lobbying expenses for this sector in all but the fourth quarter last year. It represents a 10 percent increase from the lobbying expenses during the first quarter of 2009.

Here are the 10 clients in this sector that spent the most money on lobbying during the first quarter. (Note: Some lobbying clients may be classified as part of multiple sectors, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Therefore, money reported here is only money linked to subsidiaries within this sector. Please see the chart at bottom of this article for lobbying clients’ overall lobbying expenditures across all sectors or examine the company’s profile in our lobbying database.)

Client Q1 FIRE

Lobbying National Association of Realtors $4,320,000 Blue Cross/Blue Shield $3,117,721 America’s Health Insurance Plans $2,700,000 Financial Services Roundtable $2,660,000 Zurich Financial Services $2,241,250 American Bankers Association $2,110,000 New York Life Insurance $1,890,000 SLM Corp $1,860,000 Prudential Financial $1,755,000 Credit Union National Association $1,750,019

Here is a chart showing how much was spent on lobbying by clients in each of the 13 sectors in the Center’s classification hierarchy.

Sector Q1 2009 Q2 2009 Q3 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 Miscellaneous Business $105,416,974 $113,440,136 $149,389,410 $199,314,859 $139,005,894 Health $128,356,413 $135,430,655 $135,852,415 $145,187,007 $137,900,974 Energy $103,135,817 $99,945,772 $101,367,039 $108,693,341 $128,525,374 Finance (FIRE) $112,167,679 $113,039,067 $112,532,619 $129,504,330 $123,065,700 Communications $92,709,452 $90,615,976 $85,553,437 $92,317,347 $92,375,827 Other $61,615,666 $65,297,387 $61,092,574 $62,257,387 $58,985,643 Transportation $61,070,340 $60,041,013 $62,023,522 $60,378,423 $57,642,905 Ideology/Single-Issue $36,255,616 $39,938,345 $40,440,477 $39,626,792 $35,431,370 Defense $32,581,623 $32,845,017 $32,013,679 $39,088,443 $34,441,770 Agribusiness $34,303,817 $35,743,976 $31,522,412 $31,908,751 $32,109,545 Construction $13,832,087 $14,446,591 $13,431,678 $15,339,089 $13,001,640 Labor $10,262,845 $11,066,738 $10,982,324 $11,398,828 $11,569,024 Lawyers & Lobbyists $7,846,911 $8,271,419 $8,980,284 $9,497,729 $8,546,085 Unknown Sector $11,789,074 $17,227,379 $21,161,918 $24,430,958 $30,430,339 Overall Totals $811,344,314 $837,349,471 $866,343,788 $968,943,284 $903,032,090

Furthermore, by the Center’s tally, more than 30 companies and organizations spent more than $3 million on lobbying during the first three months of the year.

Top spenders such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and PG&E spent more than $25 million on lobbying efforts during the first quarter. Like the Chamber, PG&E also reports money it has spent on grassroots and state-level operations, and the bulk of its expenditures is attributable to $25 million it invested in a California ballot measure voters will consider in June.

A host of organizations invested millions on their lobbying operations.

Here is a list of the top 50 organizations that spent the most on lobbying between January and March, along with a breakdown of how much they spent in each quarter of 2009.

Client Q1 2009 Q2 2009 Q3 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 US Chamber of Commerce $15,506,000 $10,690,000 $39,015,000 $79,285,000 $30,897,500 PG&E Corp. $670,000 $740,000 $3,880,000 $990,000 $25,820,000 General Electric $4,540,000 $7,200,000 $6,940,000 $6,840,000 $8,290,000 PhRMA $6,910,000 $6,150,000 $6,790,000 $6,300,520 $7,010,000 ConocoPhillips $5,980,935 $3,269,993 $4,041,151 $4,777,779 $6,408,978 American Medical Association $4,355,000 $4,115,000 $4,130,000 $8,230,000 $6,370,000 AT&T Inc. $5,134,873 $3,056,745 $3,177,114 $3,360,941 $5,937,881 Blue Cross/Blue Shield $5,037,818 $6,071,929 $5,657,318 $6,458,374 $5,897,721 American Beverage Association $140,000 $1,200,000 $7,330,000 $10,180,000 $5,440,000 FedEx Corp. $2,370,000 $3,740,000 $5,610,000 $4,650,000 $4,899,894 Verizon Communications $4,920,000 $4,370,000 $4,160,000 $4,370,000 $4,735,000 Pfizer Inc. $6,216,339 $6,481,191 $6,101,738 $5,820,000 $4,340,000 National Association of Realtors $5,757,000 $3,860,000 $4,240,000 $5,620,000 $4,320,000 Edison Electric Institute $2,550,000 $2,600,000 $2,660,000 $2,690,000 $4,160,000 Northrop Grumman $2,570,000 $3,560,000 $3,620,000 $5,430,000 $4,130,000 American Hospital Association $3,997,176 $4,040,000 $4,325,000 $5,945,000 $4,115,000 Boeing Co. $3,460,000 $3,550,000 $3,710,000 $6,130,000 $4,110,000 AARP $4,080,000 $5,300,000 $5,680,000 $5,950,000 $3,970,000 National Cable &

Telecommunications Association $3,370,000 $3,510,000 $3,780,000 $5,320,000 $3,920,000 Southern Co. $3,650,000 $2,690,000 $3,220,000 $3,890,000 $3,720,000 PepsiCo Inc. $410,000 $2,525,500 $1,270,000 $5,034,000 $3,600,000 National Association of Broadcasters $2,600,000 $3,260,000 $1,980,000 $3,250,000 $3,560,000 BP $3,610,000 $4,030,000 $3,730,000 $4,620,000 $3,530,000 Lockheed Martin $3,722,462 $3,532,785 $3,227,745 $3,250,790 $3,475,130 Exxon Mobil $9,320,000 $4,270,000 $7,160,000 $6,680,000 $3,390,000 American Electric Power $1,716,913 $1,792,865 $1,479,066 $2,308,401 $3,278,715 Merck & Co. $1,500,000 $1,530,000 $1,560,000 $1,820,000 $3,220,000 Altria Group $3,580,000 $3,920,000 $2,670,000 $2,600,000 $3,110,000 Chevron Corp. $6,800,000 $6,015,000 $2,700,000 $5,300,000 $3,090,000 Comcast Corp. $2,760,000 $3,290,000 $3,060,000 $3,480,000 $3,077,000 Amgen Inc. $2,750,000 $3,400,000 $3,000,000 $3,290,000 $3,070,000 United Technologies $1,860,000 $1,190,000 $1,390,000 $3,660,000 $2,930,000 American Chemistry Council $970,000 $1,280,000 $2,650,000 $2,120,000 $2,730,000 America’s Health Insurance Plans $2,030,000 $1,870,000 $2,410,000 $2,540,000 $2,700,000 Financial Services Roundtable $2,260,000 $1,420,000 $1,420,000 $1,800,000 $2,660,000 Sanofi-Aventis $2,038,000 $2,213,000 $2,063,000 $2,038,000 $2,500,000 Monsanto Co. $2,094,000 $2,080,000 $1,990,000 $2,530,000 $2,460,000 National Amusements Inc. $1,620,000 $1,905,000 $1,700,000 $2,070,000 $2,440,000 Dow Chemical $1,990,000 $1,295,000 $1,560,000 $1,795,000 $2,375,000 Business Roundtable $1,220,000 $6,140,000 $1,890,000 $4,160,000 $2,340,000 Royal Dutch Shell $850,000 $850,000 $850,000 $2,350,000 $2,320,000 Eli Lilly & Co. $3,440,000 $3,590,000 $2,020,000 $2,165,000 $2,290,000 General Dynamics $2,121,945 $2,626,308 $2,516,308 $3,020,697 $2,270,594 Zurich Financial Services $1,318,000 $1,355,000 $1,511,250 $1,651,250 $2,241,250 GlaxoSmithKline $1,780,000 $2,280,000 $2,100,000 $2,600,000 $2,240,000 Biotechnology Industry Organization $1,920,000 $1,800,000 $1,780,000 $1,860,000 $2,200,000 Cellular Telecom & Internet Association $1,790,000 $1,280,000 $1,290,000 $1,250,000 $2,180,000 Johnson & Johnson $1,570,000 $1,600,000 $1,705,000 $1,685,000 $2,155,000 American Bankers Association $2,150,000 $2,281,000 $2,446,000 $2,520,000 $2,110,000 Novartis AG $1,347,134 $1,808,536 $1,420,000 $1,590,000 $2,060,000

Center for Responsive Politics Research Director Jihan Andoni and lobbying researcher Matthias Jaime contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust. Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜

Read more OpenSecrets News & Analysis: