Also: Personal financial disclosures reveal large purchases by lawmakers in pharma and tech stocks

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May 1, 2020
This week in money-in-politics

Coronavirus stimulus spurs near-record first-quarter lobbying spending


Lobbying spending spiked to near-record levels from January through March as powerful companies, trade groups and other clients rushed to influence the government’s response to COVID-19, particularly its $2.2 trillion stimulus bill.

Federal lobbying spending totaled $903 million in the first quarter of 2020. More than 1,500 lobbying clients specifically reported attempting to influence the CARES Act, making it the second most-lobbied bill on record.
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** Members of Congress owe millions in student loans
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Congress threw a lifeline to student loan borrowers in the heavily lobbied $2.2 trillion stimulus bill by pausing payments on most federal loans. Now lawmakers want to do more to help borrowers who were already struggling to make payments before the coronavirus pandemic left millions unemployed.
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** Trump-tied lobbying firm flourishes as businesses push for coronavirus relief
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As companies scramble to get access to the federal government amid the coronavirus outbreak, lobbying firm Ballard Partners raked in record revenues in this year’s first quarter. Ballard Partners received over $5.2 million from January through March, earning the seventh-highest revenue of all lobbying firms.
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** GOP challengers outraised in race to unseat sole Utah Democrat in Congress
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Freshman Rep. Ben McAdams’ (D-Utah) reelection campaign is one of the many closely contested House races in November. A group of four GOP challengers must first battle among themselves to slim down the crowded field of competitors while McAdams continues to outraise them by millions.
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Congress invests big in pharmaceutical, tech stocks


Congress is tasked with regulating the most powerful and influential industries in the private sector. But lawmakers could lose massive chunks of their personal wealth if their legislation hurts those companies’ bottom lines.

In the most recent financial disclosures filed last year, lawmakers reported holding tens of millions of dollars in tech and pharmaceutical stocks. Congress continued to invest in these companies even as it debated how to deal with rising drug prices and tech giants’ intrusions of privacy.
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OpenSecrets in the News

See where we've been cited by media outlets around the nation this week:

* ** The Tax-Break Bonanza Inside the Economic Rescue Package (The New York Times) ([link removed])
Big companies, including Morgan Stanley, have lobbied on issues relating to tax losses as recently as the first few months of this year, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

* ** Florida prison operator with worst COVID-19 safety record has deep political roots (Miami Herald) ([link removed])
As Florida’s prison system fights to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, two facilities stand out ⁠for the wrong reasons: Blackwater River in the far reaches of the Panhandle, where six inmates have died of the disease, and South Bay Correctional Facility in Palm Beach County, where 36 staff members — more than any other compound — became infected.

* ** Federal lobbying soars to near-record level as industries scramble to shape coronavirus response (CNN) ([link removed])
Federal lobbying spending soared to nearly $903 million during the first three months of the year — approaching record levels, as American businesses scrambled to shape how the Trump administration and Congress respond to the coronavirus outbreak, a preliminary tally shows.

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