By the end of last summer, CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman recognized that 2024 was on its way to break lobbying spending records in California. With the year concluded and recent data filed with the secretary state, lobbying groups indeed spent an unrivaled amount of money in 2024 to influence state government: $540 million, or 10% more than the year before.
So who were the biggest spenders?
Topping the list were oil companies, which were the main focus of a special session Gov. Gavin Newsom called last summer to address gas prices. The Western States Petroleum Association reported more than $17.3 million in advocacy costs in 2024 — including more than $10 million spent last summer.
Electric company PacifiCorp and utility company Pacific Gas & Electric also spent big last year: PacifiCorp reported spending more than $13.4 million — about 30 times its yearly average in the last two decades — while Pacific Gas & Electric spent nearly $3.6 million.
But one standout is the tech and search giant Google, which poured $11.9 million into state-level lobbying in 2024 — more than it spent in the last 20 years combined. Last summer it successfully opposed two bills related to funding journalism and artificial intelligence regulations.
Given the state’s prominence as having one of the largest economies in the world, half a billion dollars in lobbying spending isn’t too surprising for some political and economic experts. During the 2023-24 legislative session, California also saw its biggest spike in registered lobbyists in more than a decade.
- Thomas Holyoke, political science professor at Fresno State University: “More and more interest groups and lobbyists are going to take what Sacramento does very, very seriously.”
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Other Stories You Should Know
CA spared from other research funding cuts, for now
From CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn:
Another federal cut to university research, another lawsuit — and yet another judge halting the cuts for now.
While the proposed research cuts to universities by the National Institutes of Health have been a top concern for campuses, other federal agencies are big funders of research, too. The Department of Energy provided the University of California $162 million in research funding last year for 393 projects.
The department under President Donald Trump wanted to cap a major source of that funding, called indirect costs, to 15% — much lower than the existing negotiated rates between campuses and the federal agency. The government said the move would save taxpayers $400 million annually. A coalition of universities and higher-education associations, which count UCs as members, sued last week. Days after, a federal Massachusetts judge temporarily halted the cuts. Indirect costs cover expenses to maintain labs and other major infrastructure for research.
Calculating the true cost of those proposed Department of Energy losses for the UC is difficult, but the NIH also sought to lower those indirect rates to 15%. One calculation found that the UC would lose $460 million out of about $2.6 billion in funding the system gets for health science research annually.
In the Department of Energy suit, California Institute of Technology indicated it spent $25 million on Department of Energy projects. A 15% cut to indirect costs would mean $6 million in losses for the school.
CA consumer group sues to prevent insurance surcharge
From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:
A consumer advocacy group sued the California Insurance Department last week because the state agency allowed private insurers to pass a $500 million surcharge to their customers.
The FAIR Plan — a state-mandated association of insurers that’s required to provide fire insurance to property owners who can’t get it elsewhere — asked the insurance department to approve a $1 billion “assessment” to help prop it up after the Los Angeles County fires, saying the plan was running out of money. The insurers in the plan are required to fund the assessment. But under two bulletins issued by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last fall and in February, insurers for the first time can recoup half of their cost by imposing fees on their customers — who are not on the FAIR Plan.
CalMatters reported in February that Consumer Watchdog was considering legal action. It filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court last week, saying Lara violated one law that requires public comment on a regulation and review by the Office of Administrative Law. In addition, the group said Lara violated the state’s insurance code by “effectively (requiring) every California policyholder to reinsure their own insurer.” It asks the court to declare the bulletins invalid, and to order the insurance department to facilitate the return of any fees on insurance customers so far.
Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesperson for the insurance department, said the lawsuit “fails to benefit consumers.” The insurance industry also slammed the lawsuit.
- Denni Ritter, a vice president at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association: “It is critical that the costs be spread equitably across a broader pool of insured customers.”
And lastly: Potential end to federal aid puts patients, renters at risk
California could lose over $1 billion in pandemic-era federal health grants. CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on how this could jeopardize state efforts to combat flu, overdoses and more as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.
And check out another video from CalMatters’ Ben Christopher and Robert about how a national rental assistance program is set to run out of cash — potentially displacing over 15,000 California renters. Watch it here.
SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Robert Greene: Though widespread looting did not occur during the Los Angeles County wildfires, state lawmakers are pushing bills to stiffen penalties for theft — and overlooking the true governmental failures that led to the deadly disaster.
Other things worth your time:
Trump administration asks to move Newsom’s tariffs lawsuit out of CA // The Sacramento Bee
Newsom’s return-to-office order may violate law, labor board attorney says // The Sacramento Bee
CA could lose 20% of its refining capacity in a single year. Drivers will feel it // San Francisco Chronicle
A look at egg prices and where the fight against avian flu is // The Orange County Register
Monumental LA County fire debris removal could finish by June // Los Angeles Times
Feds threaten Section 8 cut, would put 59K in LA on edge of homelessness // Los Angeles Public Press
Gutting Head Start would end services to thousands of San Diego families // The San Diego Union-Tribune
Bakersfield lost its river. Residents are fighting to revive it // San Francisco Chronicle
Meet the seed collector restoring CA’s landscapes — one tiny plant at a time // The Guardian