Lobbying

The increase in lobbyists means there’s now at least one lobbyist for every legislative staff member.

More than $114 million was spent to lobby California state government in the first quarter of this year, about the same amount as last year when advocates set a record for spending on influence efforts.

Oregon lawmakers jetted off to Taiwan, Portugal, Denmark and tech hubs in California this fall, all paid for by companies and groups that have a keen interest in the laws they’ll pass.

Three nonprofit environmental groups are calling out Avista for raising natural gas prices while using ratepayer money on lawyers fighting climate regulations.

An email from a state division director asking customers to advocate for the agency’s budget raised eyebrows among business owners and legislators.

For a bill described by its author as “the most significant political reform of the last 50 years,” Senate Bill 1439 sure didn’t get much attention when it was working its way through the Legislature last year.