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By Eric K. Ward | The Nerve
COLUMBIA — AT&T spent $276,000 trying to influence state government during this year’s legislative session, the largest outlay among hundreds of entities that hire lobbyists and lavish meals and other freebies on South Carolina lawmakers.
Employing no fewer than 14 lobbyists, AT&T far outpaced the No. 2 spender, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, which reported $183,700 in expenditures.
AT&T typically shells out big bucks to make its presence known at the State House, but $276,000 seems high, says John Crangle, director of the good-government group Common Cause of South Carolina.
“I can’t think off the top of my head what issue they may have been spending that much money on,” Crangle says. “Normally AT&T spends a substantial amount of money, just like BlueCross BlueShield, the bankers, the Hospital Association and so on.”
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