The 30 organizations that spent the most money lobbying in 2012 spent less, as a group, in 2013 — and some cut back significantly.

Fourth quarter lobbying reports for 2013 were due on Tuesday, and they show that even though some of the top spenders paid out more in the fourth quarter than in the third, a brighter holiday for K Street did not save the year. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce , for example, spent $16 million lobbying in the third quarter, increasing that to $16.4 million in the last three months of the year. Still, the total for the Chamber, though it was once again the top spender, came to $68.4 million for all of 2013, a dramatic drop of 49.7 percent from the $136.3 million it spent in 2012.

Sinking lobbying expenditures, or at least those reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, has been a consistent theme for the last several years. And, although the economy is healing, partisan gridlock led to fewer bills being passed by Congress in 2013 than in any year since the 1940s, meaning less lobbying was needed. Overall, in 2012, the total for the 30 organizations that spent the most making their voices heard in Washington came to $584.2 million, 12.5 percent more than 2013’s $511.3 million.

Like the Chamber, the group of 30 as a whole spent more in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2013: $133 million versus $118.5 million. That’s an increase of 12.2 percent in the final quarter of the year.

The next biggest spender also reported a huge increase between the third and fourth quarters, but an overall decline for the year. The National Association of Realtors , No. 2 in 2012 and again in 2013, spent $8.2 million lobbying in the third quarter and $12.6 million in the fourth quarter. But for the year, its outlays totaled $38.5 million, a decline from $41.4 million in 2012.

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A minority in this group of elites saw increases across the board — from quarter to quarter and 2012 to 2013. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman spent $3.8 million in the third quarter, then nearly doubled down to spend $7.3 million in the fourth. That was enough to push Northrop Grumman up 17.1 percent for the year, from $17.5 million in 2012 to $20.5 million in 2013. Northrop Grumman was the ninth largest spender in 2012, but our early analysis shows it jumped to third in 2013.

Similarly, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association — the fourth biggest spender in 2013 — increased its spending on lobbying from $4.4 million in the third quarter to $6.6 million in the fourth, and jumped its annual total 5.1 percent, from $18.8 million in 2012 to $19.8 million in 2013.

This group’s biggest increase in spending, by percentage, came from the American Chemistry Council . It spent $9 million lobbying in 2012, ramping that up 35 percent to $12.2 million in 2013. The biggest decline for the year, after the Chamber, was at Southern Company, whose spending slumped 17.5 percent from $15.5 million in 2012 to $12.8 million in 2013.

There was no discernible pattern in terms of industry or areas of interest among this group of top spenders. While Northrop Grumman was one of the few companies to invest enthusiastically in more K Street representation, other defense contractors among these 30 showed declines: Lockheed Martin cut back 5.7 percent between 2012 and 2013, while United Technologies spent 4.1 percent less in the year just ended.

Likewise, in the high-tech world, Microsoft increased its lobbying expenditures by 29.7 percent year-to-year, from $8 million to $10.4 million, and Google (which had been rapidly packing on extra K Street help for the last few years) cut back 15.2 percent from $18.2 million in 2012 to $15.4 million in 2013.

OpenSecrets.org will release a full analysis of lobbying totals for 2013, including a new top spenders list and breakdowns of trends by industry and sector next week.



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