Communications Lobbying Spending Slows Slightly in 2008
Lobbying spending by communications firms is likely to show a slight overall decline in 2008, once fourth-quarter figures are compiled, according to initial filings with Congress. Fourth-quarter filings are due June 20, but mid- year comparisons show slower spending in the first half of the year compared with 2007: $100.1 million compared with $173.1 million in last year’s mid-year report, according to computations by CQ Political Moneyline. The communications industry ranks third in lobbying spending, behind the health care and finance and insurance sectors, according to Moneyline’s 2008 rankings.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The industry has been among the top five spenders for the past 10 years because of the wide array of tax, telecom, trade and business issues in Congress. Moneyline breaks down the communication/technology category into sub-categories, led by telephone companies, which spent $15.2 million in the first half of 2008, compared with $22.3 million the same period last year.
Next come computer software manufacturers and TV and broadcasting companies. Cable TV ranks fifth in 2008, followed by wireless. Internet service companies are ranked ninth with online services in 11th place. Top firms in that category include Google, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon. Spending by online services was slightly more in 2008, $5.7 million vs. $5.2 million in 2007. Google and Yahoo upped their spending slightly with privacy, online advertising, net neutrality and health IT issues commanding attention, an analysis of filings shows.
Lobbying spending in the communications sector is broken out differently by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non- profit group that tracks lobbying spending. CRP shows $279.5 million in spending for the sector so far in 2008, with seven sub-categories that include computers/Internet, TV/movies/music, telecom services and equipment, telephone utilities, electronics manufacturing, printing and publishing and miscellaneous communications and electronics. CRP’s rankings do not break out quarterly and mid-year reports, as does Moneyline.
The CRP communications sector ranks fifth, behind health, finance, real estate and miscellaneous business spending categories, similar to Moneyline rankings. CRP showed the computer and Internet industries spending $89.4 million in 2008, with the biggest spenders including: Google, $2 million; Dell, $1.9 million; Yahoo, $1.8 million; eBay, $1.6 million; Business Software Alliance, $1.3 million; Apple, $1.2 million; Amazon, $1 million; and Computer & Communications Industry Assn., $1 million. The $89.4 million for the computer and Internet industry is nearly double that of telephone utilities spending of $34.6 million, CRP’s data show.
CRP’s second-largest sector sub-category is TV, movies and music with $70.9 million in 2008 spending. Telecom services and equipment is No. 3 with $49 million, followed by telephone utilities, $34.6 million. The phone utility category includes regional carriers, CompTel, NTCA as well as AT&T, Verizon and USTelecom. AT&T and Verizon were the biggest spenders in this category.
Verizon, AT&T, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and Comcast were among top 20 overall spenders among lobbyists in 2008, according to CRP. AT&T spent $11.7 million; Verizon, $10.3 million; NCTA, $9.9 million; and Comcast, $8.7 million. These figures represent only in-house spending, not money paid to outside lobbying firms, a common practice on K Street. For instance, Verizon supplemented its in-house spending with an additional $4.8 million paid to about 45 firms, CRP reported. AT&T paid about 38 companies an additional $6.3 million, CRP figures show.
CRP also flags top individual contracts -- money that a company pays a single firm to represent its interests on Capitol Hill. Qualcomm had the 6th highest individual contract so far this year, paying $1.5 million to Covington & Burling to represent its positions on patent reform, according to the report filed with the Secretary of the Senate. Verizon and AT&T also had contracts listed among the top 25 largest, CRP data show. Verizon hired Ogilvy for $960,000, while AT&T paid Mayer, Brown $930,000.
Telecommunications issues did not attract the most business for lobbyists this year, CRP reported. Defense and budget issues are the No. 1 source of lobby hires, with nearly 6,000 filings from firms lobbying Congress. By comparison, there were 417 filings in the telecom sector, 311 in broadcasting and 128 in the computer and information technology sector.