Tech Lobbying By the Numbers

The deadline for first quarter lobbying disclosures came and went on April 22. Internet firms have posted record-high figures in recent years and that was true again for some firms. Amazon, for instance, spent its largest sum ever in a single quarter at $3.89 million. Facebook didn’t quite beat the record it set in 2018 but still had its second-highest quarterly bill ever at $3.4 million. Perhaps the most surprising tech spender was Google, which bucked the trend by shelling out $3.36 million, a 33 percent dip compared to the first quarter of 2018 and its smallest quarterly lobbying expense since 2015. Sprint doled out a quarterly record of $1.36 million during the three-month period, a 72 percent jump compared to the first quarter of 2018. The company is trying to win approval for a $26 billion merger with T-Mobile, though its lobbying spend had been flat or down since that deal was first announced.