LANSING (AP) -- Lobbyists spent $32.1 million last year wining and dining public officials and spending money on other lobbying efforts in Michigan, up 6 percent from the year before, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
Government Consulting Services, a multiclient firm based in Lansing, was the top spender again in 2007. The firm spent $1.4 million wooing lawmakers for clients, up 11 percent from 2006. Six of the top 10 spenders were multiclient firms, the nonpartisan group said Wednesday.
Among individual interest groups, the Michigan Education Association was the top spender at $626,536. That was down by 26 percent compared to 2006 and placed the state's largest teachers union third overall.
MyWireless.org, which opposes taxes and regulations on the wireless telecommunications industry, was the top-spending newcomer for 2007. It spent $452,026, enough to put it eighth.
Lobbyists are not required to report travel and lodging expenditures that are less than $700, or gift or entertainment expenditures -- such as tickets to sporting events -- that are less than $53. They don't need to report food expenditures under $53 a month for an official who could be lobbied or if those expenditures don't hit $350 in a calendar year for such officials.
The organization includes a list of the top 200 Michigan lobbyists in 2007 on its Web site, www.mcfn.org.
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