Lobbying Expenditures in Albany

This chart is from the state's temporary lobbying commission latest report, showing how much it cost 5,117 registered lobbyists last year to represent the interests of their 3,277 clients to state lawmakers. (Easily identifiable rend in lobbyist spending over the years: up!)

Elsewhere in the report are the details 41 settlements the commission has reached with lobbyists who ran afoul of lobbying irregularities including $75,000 from Madison Square Garden for providing "public officials with complimentary attendance in a hospitality suite" at sporting events, and $10,000 from the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York for "a meal expense on March 29, 2004 in the amount of $279.75 for three individuals, at least one of whom was a public official.

Et cetera.