Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/tag/afscme-international/)
Special interest groups in Wisconsin spent less trying to sway state law and policy in the first half of 2013 than in comparable past periods. But it’s still a whole lotta moolah: more than $17 million.
Newly released numbers show that lobbying in Wisconsin during the tumultuous 2011-12 legislative session totaled $62.9 million — not exactly chump change, but lower than the session before.
During the first half of 2011, four unions representing public employees collectively reported spending a total of $6.3 million on 25,558 hours of lobbying. But in latter half of 2011, according to recently filed reports, these four unions collectively spent $353,193 on 3,153 hours of lobbying. In terms of dollars, that’s a 94 percent decline.