Groups trying to influence lawmakers at the Kentucky General Assembly spent 11 percent more this year than they did two years ago.
The last time the legislature met for a 30 day session, groups spent $6.2 million lobbying legislators. This year, that number has grown to $6.98 million.
According to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission, much of that increase came from a new requirement that lobbyists report spending on advertising, too.
The top spender for the entire session was Anheuser-Busch, which spent $380,000 on lobbying against a bill that sought to prevent out-of-state brewers from owning distributors in-state. That law ultimately passed; the group that lobbied in its favor spent only about a third of what Anheuser-Busch did.
