↓ -0.08 vs 4Q ago
Influence Intensity — what this means
How big a footprint this sponsor has in Washington, compared with every other sponsor we track. Scored 0 to 10.
How to read it
- Minimal · < 4
- Substantial · 4 to 7
- Top-decile · 7+
Think of this as a size-of-presence score. It rolls four things into one number — how much the sponsor spends on lobbying, how many lobbying firms it hires, how many topics it lobbies on, and how many parts of government it contacts — and weighs each against every other sponsor we track over the same year.
More of any of those four pushes the score up. A 0 means no measurable lobbying footprint at all. A 10 means this sponsor sits at the top of the pack on every dimension.
Below 4 — an occasional or modest presence. Most sponsors are here.
4 to 7 — a substantial, sustained operation.
7 and above — one of the largest footprints in Washington.
Because it's a comparison against everyone else, the score can move even when a sponsor's own activity holds steady: if the rest of the field ramps up and this sponsor doesn't, the score drifts down. Read it as relative standing, not as a dollar figure.
What goes into it
- Lobbying spend — What the sponsor reported spending on lobbying over the last four quarters.
- Lobbying firms hired — How many different lobbying firms worked for the sponsor during that year.
- Issues lobbied — How many distinct policy topics the sponsor's lobbying touched.
- Parts of government contacted — How many different agencies, departments, and congressional offices were lobbied.
Good to know
Spending is only part of the story, which is why the other three ingredients are in here. A company that writes one big check to one firm about one issue is doing something very different from a company spending the same money across a dozen firms, twenty issues, and thirty agencies. The second has its hands in far more of Washington, and the score reflects that.
Worth keeping in mind:
- It covers a rolling year of filings, so it moves slowly by design. A single busy quarter won't swing it much.
- Trade associations lobby on behalf of their members, so a trade group's footprint can overlap with the footprints of the companies inside it.
- Everything here comes from what sponsors themselves report in public lobbying disclosures. Late filings and amendments can shift a score after the fact.