Overall spending on lobbying may have fallen again in the first quarter of 2014, but not everyone decided to pull back. In fact, some companies and industries pumped up their lobbying in the quarter, with the chemical and pharmaceutical industries leading the pack.



Dow Chemical was the company with the biggest jump from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014. The chemical giant spent more than $5.15 million, tripling what it paid out in the three months prior.



That $5.15 million is far and away the most the company has spent in a quarter over the past five years. Since 2010, the most the company had spent on lobbying in a quarter was $3.83 million.



But the increase comes in the wake of major chemical spills in West Virginia and North Carolina. While Dow wasn’t involved in either incident, Congress held hearings and has proposed new legislation to more heavily monitor chemical companies. Dow lobbied on such legislation in the the most recent quarter, including the Senate’s Chemical Safety Improvement Act that was introduced last year as well as updates to the Toxic Substances Control Act. A Dow spokesperson didn’t mention those bills in an interview with the Center for Public Integrity, instead attributing the increased political spending to “increased collaboration in public policy, specifically in energy, trade and agriculture,” along with a successful 2013.



Dow wasn’t the only chemical company whose numbers grew. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, which also has a chemical arm, more than doubled its spending in the quarter, to $1.32 million. The industry as a whole spent nearly $19 million on lobbying, a 39 percent increase from last quarter and a 24 percent increase from the same time period last year.



The pharmaceutical industry increased its lobbying spending more than any other industry in the first three months of 2014, to more than $65.4 million. That’s a 24 percent hike from the fourth quarter of 2013.



Leading the way was drug manufacturer Novartis AG, which upped its spending by more than 169 percent from quarter to quarter, the fifth-largest increase of any company. Other drugmakers with large increases include Johnson & Johnson (to $1.25 million), Merck & Co.($1.18 million), Bayer AG ($990,600), and Pfizer, Inc ($960,000).



In their case, the larger outlays could be attributed to new patent overhaul legislation sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that’s making its way through Congress. The bill largely targets “patents trolls,” but also affects pharmaceutical patents. Pharmaceutical groups have also strongly lobbied in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agrement, according to an analysis from the Sunlight Foundation. The TPP, which Obama heavily promoted last week while in Asia, helps drug manufacturers by increasing patent power, among other things.



The industry’s spending surge comes with a caveat. Lobbying, especially for the pharmaceutical industry, tends to be cyclical, with companies routinely spending the most during the first quarter of the year. So while the industry’s $65 million looks abnormal, it’s roughly comparable to the $66.3 million the industry spent in the first quarter of 2013 and the $68.1 million it spent during the same period of 2012.



Other companies or trade groups that saw big increases in lobbying in the first quarter of 2014 are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($2.9 million), the American Medical Association ($2.1 million), United Technologies ($2.9 million), National Amusements Inc. ($1.6 million), and United Parcel Service ($1.5 million).



Top Ten Groups That Spent More In The First Quarter of 2014 Than 2013

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The down side

Those increases are particularly noteworthy simply because increases in spending on lobbying of any amount were unusual in the first quarter. Groups that reported spending more on lobbying this quarter than last were in the minority, and overall, the first quarter of 2014 saw the lowest spending on federal lobbying over the same period in at least four years.

Which groups and industries cut back the most?

The real estate industry slashed its spending the most between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first three months of 2014 — a decline of 30 percent from $22.4 million to $15.6 million. Not only was it a decline from the end of last year, it was a cut of $3.6 million from 2013’s first quarter spending by the industry.

Food processing and sales cut spending by $5.3 million between the two most recent quarters, from $11.5 million to $6.2 million, and the oil and gas industry was close behind with cuts of $4.3 million between quarters, down to $33.8 million. Oil and gas had the deepest decline of all industries — $4 million — between the first quarter of 2013 and the first quarter.

The single organization that cut back the most between quarters was, not surprisingly, the National Association of Realtors, which cut its spending by $5.4 million, to $7.1 million in the first quarter of this year. Following the trends set by the industry numbers, the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association showed the second biggest drop between quarters, cutting $3.83 million. Directly behind the Grocery Manufacturers was Northrup Grumman, which shed more than 79 percent of its fourth quarter spending — about $3.82 million — between quarters, and spent just $3.5 million in the first quarter of this year.

Top Ten Groups That Spent Less In The First Quarter of 2014 Than 2013







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