The Connecticut Hospital Association was the state’s largest lobbyist between 2023 and August 2024, spending roughly $3.2 million dollars.
In total, lobbyists spent approximately $82.2 million dollars in 2023 and through 2024 to date. While government was the top issue lobbied by the number of client lobbyists, the majority of the state’s lobbyists were involved in the healthcare sector.
Connecticut law requires lobbyists who receive compensation or reimbursement for lobbying expenses totaling at least $3,000 within a calendar year, or who make an obligation to do so, to register with the Office of State Ethics (OSE) and to regularly make reports on their activities. State statute also requires lobbyists to wear a “distinguishing badge” that identifies them while engaged in lobbying activities.
OSE publishes data relating to top lobbying activities in a variety of categories, including for issues lobbed, client lobbyists by compensation, media spending, and more.
For 2023-2034, the most recent data available, spending by the top ten lobbyists amounted to roughly $10.4 million, accounting for 12.6 percent of overall money spent on lobbying in 2023-2024 and 70.5 percent of the roughly $14.8 million spent by the Office of State Ethic’s (OSE) list of top 20 lobbyists from the same time period. The top ten lobbyists were:
- CT Hospital Association
- Eversource
- Hartford HealthCare
- Partnership for America’s Health Care Plans
- CT Association of Health Plans
- ESPN, Inc.
- Connecticut Bankers Association
- Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
- CBIA
- Insurance Association of CT
But while the majority of client lobbyists, who pay for lobbying services on their behalf, represent healthcare organizations or healthcare interests, healthcare was not the only issue on which they lobbied.
For example, the CT Hospital Association, which spent the most money on lobbying in 2023-2024, also lobbied on issues related to athletics and sports, banking, conservation, food and beverage, and housing. In total, CT Hospital Association lobbied on 38 different issues.
Healthcare issues were the second most lobbied issue during 2023-2024, with 273 registered lobbyists working on those issues. After healthcare human services, the environment, and economic and community development rounded out the five most lobbied issues. Utilities were the eighteenth highest issue lobbied, despite Eversource being the second biggest lobbyist by the amount of money spent.
CBIA and the Insurance Association of Connecticut, the ninth and tenth highest lobbyists respectively, lobbied on the widest range of issues. Both organizations lobbied on 45 different topics, spanning from business and insurance-related matters to conservation and land use issues, gaming, and issues related to the judiciary.
The majority of spending — $6.4 million — by the top ten lobbyists went to legislative efforts. In total, the top 20 lobbyists spent roughly $12.6 million on legislative efforts. Overall, legislative spending accounts for approximately 85 percent of spending by the state’s top 20 lobbyists and 85 percent of spending by the state’s top 10 lobbyists. The remaining money was spent on administrative costs.
None of the top ten, or even the top 20, lobbyists were among the highest spenders on media during the 2023 and 2024 to date. The top 20 highest-spending client lobbyists spent roughly $1.7 million on media in 2023 and through August 2024. Spending was concentrated during the final few months of the legislative sessions held in both years.
In 2023, the legislative session ran between January 4 and June 7. In 2023, the short session ran from February 7 to May 8.
During the 2023 session, media spending built as the session progressed and peaked at $253,766 in June, the final month of the session, with client lobbyists spending an average of $42,294 during that month. Spending during the 2024 session peaked in March, two months before the session ended. In total, client lobbyists spent $339,837 and averaged roughly $114,000 during that month.
Of the top ten lobbyists, representatives of eight submitted testimonies for bills during the 2024 legislative session. In total, they offered comment on roughly 170 different pieces of legislation. For bills where representatives of the organizations in the top ten lobbyists indicated whether they directly or supported a bill, 49 percent had favorable final dispositions.
ESPN had the most success with legislation that turned out in their favor because they only testified on one bill, which would have eliminated the state’s film production tax credit. ESPN submitted testimony opposed to the bill, which was never voted out of committee.
Of the top ten client lobbyists whose representatives submitted testimony on multiple bills, the Insurance Association of Connecticut had the highest rate of favorable legislative outcomes during the recent short session. Of bills for which they expressed straight support or opposition, 80 percent had a favorable outcome.
Eversource had the lowest rate of favorable bill outcomes, with only 16.7 percent with a favorable final disposition.
Half of the top ten client lobbyists had representatives submit testimony on SB 2, which would have regulated the development and use of artificial intelligence, with a majority of organizations expressing concerns with the bill. The Connecticut Hospital Association’s testimony expressed concerns with the initial language of the bill and asked that healthcare be exempted from oversight requirements. The CT Association of Health Plans asked the legislature to amend the bill to exempt organizations that are required to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Connecticut Bankers Association said they were ready to work with the legislature to develop “a bill that promotes the responsible use of AI by private industry.” CBIA provided general comments in support of some sections of the bill but opposed to others. Only Hartford HealthCare supported the bill.
Ultimately, an alternate version of the bill was advanced out of committee and voted approvingly, with amendments, by the Senate. However, it died on the House of Representatives calendar when the legislature adjourned sine die.
OSE annually conducts a lottery that selects 30 registered lobbyists to be audited. Hartford HealthCare and Partnership for America’s Health Care Future Action were among the 30 lobbyists selected at random to be audited in 2024.
As part of the audit, lobbyists are required to retain all contracts with communicator documents, all invoices and bills for expenditures made “for the benefit of public officials,” and all lobbying-related disbursements.
Any lobbyist may be selected as part of the random audit, but they cannot be selected more than once in a three-year period.
According to OSE, since the 2022 lottery, the number of registered lobbyists has decreased by 61 while the amount of money spent has increased by $6 million.
As of September 23, OSE had not completed the audits of Hartford HealthCare or Partnership for America’s Health Care Future Action.
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Excellent reporting that will open eyes on how the real sausage is made, and how little sausage never makes it to Environmental Justice towns like East Haven, CT. Healthcare is top expense for working poor as state programs begin to cut off recipients in 2024. No one stops executive compensation or outs that, and the corporations are giving back less to cities and towns, while the quality of healthcare is diminishing at major hospitals such as Yale New Haven Hospital. Lobbyists for Avelo Airlines will be all around trying to protect freebies on fuel tax starting January, tagging along with Yale University and Tweed New Haven Airport. We have turned into a Carpetbagger state again with corporate favors with no outputs.
Which CT legislators received the most money from lobbyists?
I think the two biggest issues to Fairfield County voters deserve more analytical attention, viz., housing and electricity surcharges. That is, to what substantive issues is money being applied, and with what results. To what extent is lobbying money being applied to legislative “rats,” the secret amendments that are tacked onto unrelated bills at the last moment. Connecticut needs a requirement that bill titles comprehensively and fairly disclose the contents of the bill and the every bill be limited to a single subject, enforced by a non-partisan parliamentarian.