(Bloomberg) — For-profit colleges more than doubled spending on lobbying and hired six former members of the U.S. Congress this year to fight regulations that threaten the industry. Ten education companies and their trade association spent $3.8 million on lobbying in the first nine months of 2010, up from $1.5 million in the comparable period […]
(Businessweek) — Facebook is trying to find friends in Washington—the old-fashioned way. The world’s largest social networking site is expanding its six-person Washington office, spending more on lobbying, and meeting with lawmakers, congressional staff, and privacy experts who question whether the company is adequately protecting the personal information of its 500 million users. Founder Mark […]
(Wall Street Journal) — Big phone and cable companies are outgunning Silicon Valley in last-minute lobbying to shape a pending Federal Communications Commission proposal to prevent Internet providers from interfering with web traffic. The major broadband companies have opposed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s efforts to give the government a stronger hand in regulating how web traffic […]
(AJC) — A constitutional amendment that would exempt police officers, firefighters and teachers from paying city property taxes is on a proposed “wish list” Atlanta will deliver to the Georgia General Assembly. The amendment will be familiar, as it initially was passed out of the state Senate by Kasim Reed when he was a senator […]
(AP) — Cook County has launched a new online database of lobbyists and lobbying activity. County Clerk David Orr says officials have never had so much detail about how lobbyists try to influence county government. According to Lobbyist Online, 188 lobbyists made 576 contacts with Cook County officials in the first half of 2010. About […]
(Chicago Breaking News) — The Illinois Hospital Association today named long-time Democratic congressional aide Kimberly C. Parker as its first vice president of federal relations, opening the powerful state lobby’s first-ever office in Washington, D.C. As health reform is implemented during the next four years, IHA said it wanted a stronger presence in Washington. Hospitals […]
(Chicago Sun Times) — Contractors, suppliers and other companies use clout-heavy lobbyists to do business with City Hall. Surprisingly, at times, so does Mayor Daley. It’s not exactly the same, says Langdon Neal, a Chicago lawyer with deep political ties whose Neal & Leroy law firm charged the mayor’s Public Building Commission more than $400,000 […]
(Businessweek) — A new report shows the top 50 lobbyists in Albany spent $45 million last year on lobbying and campaign contributions to influence the state Legislature. The New York Public Interest Research Group report details the spending during the height of New York’s fiscal crisis, during which taxes and fees were increased by historic […]
(New York Times) — In its push for more stores in Chicago, Wal-Mart recently enlisted help from the brother of Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart, as well as from a former aide to Mayor Richard M. Daley. Timothy Dart is a veteran lobbyist at City Hall. “Tim has relationships with a wide range of influential […]
By Sonya Kimble-Ellis The job of a lobbyist is to affect change. For a number of African-American lobbyists who are now working in Washington, the process has been slow but steady. Just three years ago, the Washington Government Relations Group, an association of Black lobbyists, was said to have 200 members. Today, that number has […]