Last year was a good year to be a lobbyist in California. Advocacy efforts shattered records in 2023, with nearly $480 million poured into influencing legislation and regulatory decisions making their way through state government.
This week at CalMatters, our data reporter Jeremia Kimelman pulled back the curtain on two hidden aspects of our state government. His first story runs down the top ten biggest lobbyists at the Capitol in 2023 – or as he called them, “patrons of persuasion.” The second, co-reported with Sameea Kamal, exposes how there is no simple, systematic way to track if new laws are working as they’re intended, because the state agencies in charge of creating those reports simply don’t turn them in. Readers across the political spectrum, from a Democratic former state controller to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, praised it. Enjoy.
-Anna
Companies and organizations spent more than $480 million on lobbyists who sought to influence the Legislature, the governor’s office and state agencies.
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