FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Viveca Novak, 202-354-0111
Michael Beckel, 202-354-0108
or press@crp.org

The nation’s economy may be slowly rebounding, but during 2011, the economic engine of K Street sputtered. Overall expenditures on lobbying were down for the first time in more than a decade, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

More than $3.27 billion was spent on lobbying in 2011, according to the Center's preliminary analysis of lobbying reports filed with Congress last week. (An estimated 90 percent of the reports due had been filed by the deadline Friday, so this figure is likely to increase slightly as the remaining fourth-quarter reports are processed.)

Notably, 2011 ranked as the first year since 1999 that lobbying expenditures have dropped, according to the Center's research. During 2010, when health care and stepped-up regulation of the financial sector were the subjects of fierce struggles on Capitol Hill, outlays for lobbying totaled $3.51 billion.

"The political gridlock in the 112th Congress has slowed the flow of money to K Street's hired guns," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. "Nevertheless, special interest groups, from the tech industry to public sector unions, continue to hire lobbyists to give them a megaphone in Washington, as well as first-class access and connections."

Still, despite a congressional session marked as much by what didn't get accomplished as what did in the areas of jobs, trade, abortion policy, online piracy, copyright, government spending and the national debt, a handful of interest groups posted banner years.

Internet giant Google more than doubled its spending on lobbying in 2011, posting a record $11.4 million, including $4.2 million during the fourth quarter. The National Association of Realtors, which spent more than $22 million on lobbying, also had a record year -- as did energy behemoth ConocoPhillips, which paid out more than $20.5 million for lobbying services.

Additionally, the TV, music and movie industry stood out among the biggest spenders on lobbying in 2011, posting figures that were up at least 10 percent above spending in 2010 -- and up at least 12 percent from 2009. These groups spent at least $122 million on lobbying in 2011.

Furthermore, commercial banks, telecomm services providers, the mining industry, public sector unions and advocates of reproductive rights were among those increasing their lobbying expenses.

But despite Google’s hefty increase in lobbying, the total for the tech industry was up only slightly in 2011. Last year, these interests spent at least $125.1 million, compared with $122.4 million in 2010.

The top-spending industries in 2011 were the pharmaceutical/health products industry (at least $236 million), the insurance industry ($158 million), the oil and gas industry ($146 million) and electric utilities ($144 million).

Within these four industries, lobbying expenditures were largely comparable to what they were during 2010, although the pharmaceutical industry and oil and gas industry were both down significantly from 2009, when health care and cap-and-trade energy proposals dominated the legislative agenda of the 111th Congress.

Similarly, spending by the high-profile securities and investment industry was nearly on par with such expenditures in 2010.

Last year, the securities and investment industry invested more than $98 million on lobbying as it sought to thwart the new regulations called for by the Wall Street overhaul championed by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). That was a shade less than the year before, when the industry spent about $101.4 million.

Investment firm Goldman Sachs alone spent $4.35 million on lobbying in 2011 (down from $4.61 million in 2010), while Morgan Stanley spent $2.37 million (down from $2.75 million in 2010).

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce once again ranked as the biggest spender on lobbying in 2011.

Last year, the Chamber and its subsidiaries spent $66.37 million, although, like ConocoPhillips, the National Association of Realtors and some other organizations, the Chamber's numbers include federal, state and grassroots lobbying expenses. (Most organizations include only federal-level lobbying expenses in their reports to Congress.)

Notably, the number of active, federally registered lobbyists continued to decline, with 2011 seeing only about 12,600 lobbyists' names appear in federal filings, according to the Center's research.

That's down from a high of nearly 14,900 in 2007, the year before new regulations and restrictions on lobbyists were implemented in the wake of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Those policies, as well as new rules pushed by President Barack Obama, have increased the potential drawbacks of being a registered lobbyist.

OpenSecrets.org's searchable lobbying database is accessible here.