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California Breaks Lobbying Spending Record with $540 Million

The California State Capitol symbolizes the intersection of government and corporate lobbying.

News Summary

California has set a new record for lobbying expenditures, surpassing $540 million in 2024, a significant increase from the previous year’s $485 million. Major corporations, including Google and various oil and utility companies, have driven this surge in spending, focusing on influencing policy outcomes during key legislative sessions. Notably, the Western States Petroleum Association and tech giant Google have reported substantial increases in their lobbying budgets. While this spending reflects California’s economic stature, it raises concerns over corporate influence in state policy-making.

California has set a new record for lobbying spending, reaching over $540 million in 2024, according to recent filings with the California Secretary of State. This figure represents a more than 10% increase from the $485 million spent in 2023, marking the highest amount reported in the state’s history for lobbying efforts.

This surge in spending can be largely attributed to substantial lobbying activities by major corporations and interest groups, particularly during special legislative sessions. Notable players in this extensive lobbying landscape include technology giant Google, oil companies, and utility providers, all of which have ramped up their spending in pursuit of favorable policy outcomes.

California’s status as a state with a full-time legislature and one of the largest economies in the world makes significant lobbying spending a common practice. Economist Francesco Trebbi from UC Berkeley has pointed out that a lobbying expenditure of over $500 million is in line with California’s economic stature, especially when compared to lobbying efforts at the federal level.

The increased lobbying outlay coincides with a growing trend of corporate influence in state policy decisions. Political science professor Thomas Holyoke from Fresno State University has noted that this rise in spending reflects the increasing importance businesses place on California’s legislative choices and their desire to shape outcomes that align with their interests.

Among the notable spending, the Western States Petroleum Association has reported its lobbying expenses soaring to over $17.3 million in 2024, more than double its spending from the previous year. A significant portion of these funds—over $10 million—was allocated last summer to address legislative regulations concerning gasoline prices.

In the utilities sector, PacifiCorp emerged as the largest non-oil spender, reporting lobbying costs exceeding $13.4 million, which is approximately 30 times its average expenditure over the last two decades. Pacific Gas & Electric also contributed significantly to the lobbying effort, spending nearly $3.6 million and successfully influencing around two-thirds of the 45 bills on which it took a public stance.

Technology companies have notably stepped up their lobbying activities. Google’s lobbying expenses in 2024 outstripped its total spending over the past two decades combined, with a particularly steep increase noted during the third quarter. These efforts were primarily focused on opposing proposed regulations related to media and artificial intelligence.

Google accounted for nearly $7 million of the Computer & Communications Industry Association’s total lobbying expenditure, which approached $7.4 million. Contrastingly, the landscape for labor groups appears to be less aggressive, as only two unions, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the California Teachers Association, reported spending over $1 million each. The SEIU spent almost $3.4 million, while the Teachers Association’s expenses totaled over $3.1 million. Both unions had a commendable success rate of about 70% on the bills for which they lobbied.

Organizations engaged in lobbying are required to disclose their expenditures in quarterly reports to the California Secretary of State. The data used for the recent analysis conducted by CalMatters was compiled from these reports. The overall success rate of corporate lobbying efforts is estimated to be around 60%, although this figure may not capture longer-term efforts that span multiple legislative sessions.

While California mandates some reporting of lobbying expenditures, it currently lacks regulations requiring the disclosure of which specific offices or staff members meet with lobbyists. This lack of transparency complicates the tracking of lobbying activities. Furthermore, the data often includes instances where organizations fund industry groups for lobbying reasons, potentially leading to double reporting of certain amounts.

Tracking lobbying activities remains a complex endeavor due to overlapping interests and the lengthy timeframes that legislative changes can entail. As California continues to face pivotal policy decisions, the impact of this record level of lobbying spending is expected to be significant.