Add It Up: State lawmakers showered with summer lobbyist love
Terrible economy? You wouldn’t know it from state lobbyists’ spending reports.
Total amount lobbyists spent wining, dining and wooing state lawmakers in May, June and July: $193,000
Number of days General Assembly was in session during those months: 0
Amount lobbyists for Georgia Power, the natural gas and beverage industries spent on House Republicans’ annual retreat: $26,000
Number of lawmakers who went on a lobbyist-paid trip in July to visit Mount Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, Calif.: 4
Amount lobbyists spent to charter boats for lawmakers during a coastal conference in June: $528
Amount the Georgia Food Industry Association spent packing a state senator’s “hospitality suite”: $545
Amount lobbyists spent on one-night “entertainment” for the House Republican Women’s Caucus: $935
Amount Sierra Club lobbyists spent on lawmakers during the entire year: $0
Number of water-conservation bills that lawmakers approved this session: 0
Sources: Atlanta Unfiltered, State Ethics Commission, AJC
CUT:
Approximate amount that lobbyists spent on meals in those three months: $80,000
Amount of cash a Georgia State University lobbyist paid for lawmakers’ lodging and meals during the junket: $4,100
Total amount the Georgia Automobile Dealers Association spent on lawmakers in the first two weeks of June: $4,060
Total amount spent on lawmakers’ lodging bills during conferences and conventions: $25,829
Total amount spent on baseball game tickets: $7,355
Total amount lawmakers spent on golf for lawmakers: $4,648
Total amount lobbyists doled out for concert and theater tickets: $1,959