Wisconsin has strict lobbying laws, as lobbyists cannot give anything of value to an elected state official, candidate for state elective office, legislative employee, or agency official.

Not even a cup of coffee.

But that doesn’t stop big organizations from lobbying the Wisconsin State Legislature and others on behalf of their interests and members.

Business associations, like the powerful Wisconsin Manufacturing & Commerce, and others spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year trying to shape, promote and block legislation and other government action. But by law, lobbyists or organizations who are lobbying are not allowed to give candidates or state officials anything of monetary value, like meals, transportation or lodging, unless that gift is also available to the public.

Lobbyists in Wisconsin cannot give politicians or candidates for office anything of monetary value, like meals, transportation or lodging, unless that gift is also available to the public.

Lobbyists can make a campaign donation to a candidate for office, but only between the start of a campaign and the election. A person who is not a lobbyist can make a campaign donation to any politician at any time.

Lobbyists must be registered with the state, and they must also report their hours and dollars spent lobbying to the state.

Here are the top 50 lobbiers of the Wisconsin State Legislature, by dollars reported, in 2023.

ORGANIZATION	REPORTED HOURS	REPORTED DOLLARS SPENT
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce	5,066	$885,804
Wisconsin Hospital Association	3,946	$865,605
Wisconsin REALTORS Association	4,978	$843,129
Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club	1,074	$791,000
Badger Advocates, Inc.	355	$652,404
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation	2,376	$631,000
Wisconsin Counties Association	3,822	$531,064
Wisconsin Insurance Alliance	798	$406,793
Wisconsin Property Taxpayers Inc	4,436	$394,332
Wisconsin Towns Association	2,262	$369,272
Americans For Prosperity	1,469	$367,942
Wisconsin Automobile and Truck Dealers Association, Inc.	1,212	$354,233
ATC Management Inc.	1,216	$321,357
Wisconsin Bankers Association	1,412	$294,405
WISCONSIN CABLE COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION	257	$264,000
Wisconsin Infrastructure Investment Now, Inc.	0	$260,982
WEC Energy Group, Inc.	1,079	$257,088
National Federation of Independent Business	1,397	$241,305
State Bar of Wisconsin	2,458	$239,571
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin	982	$217,470
Marquette University	851	$209,984
Koch Government Affairs LLC, and Affiliates	362	$201,027
Northern States Power d/b/a Xcel Energy	494	$196,603
Wisconsin Wine and Spirit Institute	609	$191,964
Altria Client Services LLC	206	$191,899
Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group Inc	876	$185,671
Kwik Trip Inc.	648	$185,384
League of Wisconsin Municipalities	1,499	$184,930
Aggregate Producers of Wisconsin Inc	256	$180,481
Alliance of Health Insurers, U.A.	1,064	$171,715
Wisconsin Association of Health Plans	836	$171,180
AT&T Wisconsin	796	$168,181
Milwaukee County	1,429	$167,636
Kohler Co.	104	$165,000
RAI Services Company (formerly Reynolds American Inc.)	118	$164,763
Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin Inc	1,604	$158,696
Humana, Inc.	594	$157,494
Johnson Controls Inc	188	$157,005
Wisconsin Medical Society	1,162	$155,401
Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities	1,329	$149,637
Madison Gas & Electric Company	392	$148,377
Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association	843	$147,766
Marshfield Clinic Health System	238	$139,346
Wisconsin Health Care Association Inc.	1,153	$137,865
Wisconsin Association for Justice	1,103	$135,468
LeadingAge Wisconsin	712	$129,327
Google LLC and its Affiliates	284	$126,610
Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, Inc	427	$122,673
Elevance Health, and its affiliates dba Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield	679	$122,233
Wisconsin Credit Union League	476	$121,715

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The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.

This article first appeared on The Badger Project and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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