NEWS

Record Amounts Spent by Three Top Lobbying Groups in Q2, 2015

Bret Hendry | July 29, 2015

On July 20th, filings on federal lobbying expenditures made between April 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015 were due to the Clerk of the US House of Representatives. MapLight analyzed the 10 organizations that spent the most on lobbying Congress and federal agencies during this time period.

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Data:
 
  • The American Medical Association spent $12,400,000 in quarter two of 2015, more than in any quarter since 2008 and 1.85 times as much as the preceding quarter.
  • Boeing spent $9,288,000 in quarter two of 2015, more than in any quarter since 2008 and 2.4 times as much as the preceding quarter.
  • Business Roundtable spent $6,430,000 in quarter two of 2015, more than in any quarter since 2008 and 1.44 times as much as the preceding quarter.
  • The top 10 lobbying organizations spent a combined $86,778,000 in quarter two of 2015.

 

Organization Quarter 2 Lobbying
U.S. Chamber of Commerce* $22,970,000
American Medical Association $12,400,000
Boeing $9,288,000
General Electric $8,460,000
National Association of Realtors $8,180,000
Business Roundtable $6,430,000
National Association of Manufacturers $4,840,000
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America $4,820,000
American Hospital Association $4,770,000
Google $4,620,000

To see detailed information on company lobbying since 2008, please click here to view our comprehensive federal lobbying database.

*Lobbying expenditures made by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($17,860,000) were aggregated with expenditures made by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform ($5,110,000), an affiliate organization.

 

Methodology:

MapLight analysis of federal lobbying disclosure filings from the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives between April 1, 2015, and June 30, 2015. Lobbying totals represent money paid by an organization to each lobbying firm for services on all issues. Organizations report total lobbying expenses as a lump sum, which includes both in-house lobbying expenses and amounts paid to (and reported by) lobbying firms that they employ. MapLight calculates a given organization's in-house lobbying expenses by subtracting the total income reported by the lobbying firms that it employs from the company's total reported expenses. In general, filers may round their spending and expenses to the nearest $10,000, and we treat the designation of "Less than $5,000" as a value of $0. MapLight updates its lobbying database daily to capture amendments. Full reports are due on the 20th day of January, April, July, and October.