19 Dec 2011

House Passes Bill Striking Preemptively at EPA's Regulation of Farm Dust

By Pamela Helsey

Dec. 9, 2011 - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill ( HR 1633) that would establish a temporary prohibition against revising any national ambient air quality standard applicable to coarse particulate matter in order to limit federal regulation of "nuisance dust" in areas in which such dust is regulated under state, tribal, or local law. Proponents of the bill were concerned about the possibility that the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency would regulate so-called "farm dust," particulates kicked up in the air during normal farming practices. Opponents of the bill believe the bill's language is too broad and will prevent regulation of harmful pollutants.

The bill was supported by a cross-section of the agricultural community, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Feed Industry Association, the American Seed Trade Association, the Dairy Farmers of America, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the National Renderers Association, the Fertilizer Institute, the National Pork Producers Council, the US Beet Sugar Association, and the USA Rice Federation, as well other interest groups such as the American Motorcyclist Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association.

The bill was opposed by environmental protection and health policy groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Thoracic Society, and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Amongst All Members of the House

Interest groups that supported this motion (Milk & dairy producers, Stone, clay, glass & concrete products, Agricultural chemicals (fertilizers & pesticides), Small business associations, Motorcycles, snowmobiles & other motorized vehicle, etc.) gave on average 3.4 times as much to House members who voted 'YES' ($53,758) as they gave to House members who voted 'NO' ($15,816).

Amongst House Democrats

Interest groups that supported this motion (Milk & dairy producers, Stone, clay, glass & concrete products, Agricultural chemicals (fertilizers & pesticides), Small business associations, Motorcycles, snowmobiles & other motorized vehicle, etc.) gave on average 4.9 times as much to House Democrats who voted 'YES' ($77,049) as they gave to House Democrats who voted 'NO' ($15,816).

Amongst House Republicans

House Republicans received on average over 1.5 times as much from interest groups that supported this motion ($50,487) as they received from interest groups that opposed this motion ($32,812). No Republicans voted against the measure.

METHODOLOGY: MapLight analysis of reported contributions to congressional campaigns of House members in office on day of vote, from interest groups invested in the vote according to MapLight, July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2011. Contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org

A link to this data release can be found here.

17 May 2011

Nursing Home Lobbying Group Seeking Exemption from Health Law Contributed $4.5M in Last Decade

By Pamela Helsey

May 17, 2011 - Nursing homes are seeking exemptions from the new health care law, claiming an inability to fund new insurance coverage mandates, according to the New York Times.

According to analysis conducted by MapLight, over the past decade (Jan 1. 2001-Dec. 31 2010):

The nursing home industry has contributed $12.4 million to candidate campaign committees of members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives elected since the 109th Congress. The American Health Care Association and its employees, one of the groups quoted in the New York Times article, accounts for over $4.5 million in campaign contributions.
Total contributions from the nursing home industry have increased each election cycle, from $1.4 million in the 2002 election cycle to $3.5 million in the 2010 election cycle.

Breakdown by Party per Election Cycle

A closer look at contributions from nursing homes shows that their contributions to senators are fairly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats within each cycle, but contributions to House members vary according to which party is in power. While there was only one cycle in the last five in which either party in the Senate received more than 53% of nursing home contributions (57% to Democrats in the 2004 cycle), the party in control of the House of Representatives never received less than 58% of nursing home contributions to House members.

U.S. Congress:

	2002 cycle	2004 cycle	2006 cycle	2008 cycle	2010 cycle	Total
Democrat	$ 613,233	$ 721,390	$ 970,863	$ 2,004,041	$ 1,953,872	$ 6,263,399
Republican	$ 830,049	$ 940,655	$ 1,394,633	$ 1,406,510	$ 1,542,818	$ 6,114,665
Total	$ 1,443,282	$ 1,662,045	$ 2,365,496	$ 3,410,551	$ 3,496,690	$12,378,064
Democrat %	42%	43%	41%	59%	56%	51%
Republican %	58%	57%	59%	41%	44%	49%

House of Representatives:

	2002 cycle	2004 cycle	2006 cycle	2008 cycle	2010 cycle	Total
Democrat	$ 324,254	$ 310,385	$ 562,863	$ 1,179,870	$ 1,352,552	$ 3,729,924
Republican	$ 532,599	$ 631,371	$ 1,005,807	$ 688,485	$ 997,385	$ 3,855,647
Total	$ 856,853	$ 941,756	$ 1,568,670	$ 1,868,355	$ 2,349,937	$ 7,585,571
Democrat %	38%	33%	36%	63%	58%	49%
Republican %	62%	67%	64%	37%	42%	51%

Senate:

	2002 cycle	2004 cycle	2006 cycle	2008 cycle	2010 cycle	Total
Democrat	$ 288,979	$ 411,005	$ 408,000	$ 824,171	$ 601,320	$ 2,533,475
Republican	$ 297,450	$ 309,284	$ 388,826	$ 718,025	$ 545,433	$ 2,259,018
Total	$ 586,429	$ 720,289	$ 796,826	$ 1,542,196	$ 1,146,753	$ 4,792,493
Democrat %	49%	57%	51%	53%	52%	53%
Republican %	51%	43%	49%	47%	48%	47%

Monetary and non-monetary contributions to candidate campaign committees of legislators serving in the 109th, 110th, 111th and 112th Congresses. Contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics ( OpenSecrets.org). Contribution totals are based on campaign contribution figures connected to the nursing home industry as established by the Center for Responsive Politics.

A link to this data release can be found here.

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