Our findings: Go here for the full story, detailing nine businesses, governments and nonprofits from our area and what issues they are trying to influence with paid lobbyists.
Here are five key takeaways from our reporting:
1. Why we did this: When organizations spend money on lobbyists, they’re trying to influence the laws and policies that shape our lives. By reporting on these expenditures, we help make that influence visible — so you can see who’s pushing for change, and at what cost. Transparency like this is essential to keeping those in power accountable, and keeping you informed.
2. Big spender: Large corporations with local ties spend the most on federal lobbyists. Honda has spent a total of $3.2 million on reported lobbying expenses in the first three quarters of this year, compared to nearly $2.6 million in all of 2024.
3. Big increase: CareSource has spent $550,000 total on lobbying in the first three quarters of this year. The non-profit spent $150,000 in all of 2024. In fact, it has spent more this year than in any full year during the Biden administration.
4. Govs lobbying govs: Governmental entities with paid lobbyists include the city of Dayton and Miami University, but not Montgomery County.
- “Instead of spending funds on lobbying services, the county invests those resources into critical programs and services that support our more than 537,000 residents,” said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert.
5. What they’re after: Disclosure forms reveal not just how much was spent, but what specific pieces of legislation lobbyists are focused on. The organizations we analyzed were interested in environmental policy, tax (and tariff) policy, artificial intelligence, health care policy, education policy and more. Read the full story for those details.
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