$538 million.  That’s how much is said to have been spent on lobbying the legislature, and that’s just what has been reported.  

Special interest groups with business before the state government spent $538 million on professional lobbyists to influence the passage or defeat of bills during the 2009-10 legislative session. … State and local governments spent the most on lobbying of any special interest group. Other governmental entities that spent millions to lobby government included kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade schools and public universities. Education ranked fifth on the secretary of state’s list.

Rounding out the top five lobbying spenders was the healthcare industry, including hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies, and the manufacturing-industrial category, which includes powerful trade groups and giant industrial corporations such as General Electric Co. and Apple Inc (LA Times)

On the plus side, that number is slightly down from the previous legislative session, so yay for us, right? But the underlying fact is that it is just nearly impossible for the people to break through the din of the moneyed interests.  Sure, occasionally there can be a confluence of interests, or a really widespread organized movement (see organized labor), but when you get down to it, the interests with all the cash get the attention.  It’s basic political law.

With real clean money still being a distant dream, this increased spending means that organizations without all that cash need to put a high premium on a visible presence and consistent contact with legislators.