With Connecticut lawmakers now in session, the great state lobbying machine is in gear, ethics authorities say.
There are 539 businesses registered as “client lobbyists,” the Office of State Ethics reports. These entities are businesses and organizations that spend or enter into agreements to spend over $2,000 a year on lobbying.Â
By the Jan. 15 registration deadline, 581 additional lobbyists had registered as receiving or agreeing to receive $2,000 for conducting lobbying activities, the ethics office said. This number encompasses in-house lobbyists of the organizations noted above, lobbying firms, and individual communicator lobbyists.Â
In 2010, nearly $39 million was spent on lobbying, up from $38.6 million in 2009, the OSE said.
So far in 2011, the top issues noted on the lobbyist registrations are “health and hospitals,” tied with “government” (including taxation, appropriations, and budget), the office said.
The top 10 issues this year also include human services, business, education, insurance, environment, utilities, and economic development.
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