Spending on Capitol Hill lobbying is on the...
Spending on Capitol Hill lobbying is on the rise, based on Q1 disclosure forms submitted Monday. The deadline for Q1 filings was Monday, and several companies and trade associations had not filed by our deadline. AT&T did spend less, however:…
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$3.67 million in Q1, down from the $4.26 million it spent in 2013’s Q1. Sprint noted spending of $784,707, a jump from the $666,558 it spent in the same time period last year. Cox Enterprises spent far more this Q1 compared with last year’s -- $910,000 compared with $790,000, lobbying heavily on media issues such as retransmission consent, media ownership and unlicensed spectrum. Clear Channel Communications spent $1.21 million, slightly up from the $1.17 million it spent during the same period last year. It lobbied on patent overhaul as well as FCC structure and oversight issues and video concerns like broadcast indecency enforcement. Harris Corp. spent $786,436, also up slightly from the $768,570 it spent during that quarter in 2013. Harris focused on the IP transition and the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers spent $289,639 in Q1, up from last year’s $255,763, and lobbied against changes to retransmission consent rules. Writers Guild of America-West spent $120,000, up by $20,000 from what it spent this time last year. It focused on satellite reauthorization, net neutrality, the FCC’s spectrum auction, retransmission consent and the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger. Qualcomm paid Covington & Burling $690,000 for Q1 lobbying on patent overhaul and communications issues generally, although its own filing -- which in the past involves quarterly spending upwards of a million -- was not submitted by our deadline. In 2013’s Q1, Qualcomm paid Covington & Burling $300,000.