Federal lobbying outlays dipped 6.8 percent to $3.27B in 2011, marking the first year-to-year decline since 1999, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Center says the decline is due to a combination of political gridlock and a fall-off from the aggressive 2010 spending by healthcare and financial services companies fighting to stave off regulation.
The big 2011 spending categories were pharmaceutical/health products industry ($226M), insurers ($158M), oil & gas companies ($146M) and electric utilities ($144M).
Sectors stepping up lobbying activities in `11 were TV/music/movie, commercial banks, telecom services, mining, public sector unions and reproductive rights groups
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce topped the list of individual spenders with outlays of $66.4M. It was followed by General Electric ($26.3M), National Assn. of Realtors ($22.4M), Blue Cross/Blue Shield ($20.9M), ConocoPhillips ($20.6M), American Hospital Assn. ($20.4M), AT&T ($20.2M), Comcast ($19.3M), Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America ($18.9M) and National Cable and Telecommunications Assn. ($18.5M).
The Center reports there were 12,600 registered lobbyists in 2011, off the record high of 14,900 in 2007, the year before new regulations were put into effect in the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff scandal.