The preliminary lobbying data for July-August 2025 indicates that lobbying spending totaled $61.97 million, a 5.02% decrease from the $65.25 million spent in May-June 2025, the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government’s Executive Director Sanford N. Berland announced today. Detailed charts on July-August 2025 lobbying activity are now available.  

“As expected with the end of the state legislative session, total lobbying spending decreased in July-August 2025,” Executive Director Berland said. “Regularly publishing preliminary lobbying data throughout the year allows members of the public to have open access to the trends and changes in lobbying spending and activity, which is a crucial step in our mission to restore public trust in government.” 

“Preliminary data from July-August 2025 shows us that lobbyist priorities shifted when compared with previous months, moving away from the state budget issues that predominated when the legislature was in session to specific legislation, including, for example, bills concerning extensions of natural gas service to new customers, the protection of health information, and damages in wrongful death actions,” Chair Seymour W. James, Jr. said. “With more frequent access to lobbying data, New Yorkers are able to stay informed on what policy areas receive the most attention over time. The Commission remains committed to releasing preliminary lobbying data throughout the year to maintain our goal of increasing the transparency and accessibility of lobbying data.” 

July-August 2025 Preliminary Lobbying Spending 

The preliminary lobbying spending for July-August 2025 totaled $61.97 million, down $3.28 million from May-June 2025 and 7.16% or $4.78 million from March-April 2025. Once again, lobbyist compensation dominated total spending at $56.49 million, a 4.64% decrease from the $59.24 million spent in May-June 2025. Expenses totaled $5.48 million, an 8.71% decrease from the $6.01 spent in May-June 2025 and a 21.37% decrease from the $6.97 million spent from March-April 2025. Expenses included $4.43 million in itemized expenses, $953,371 in non-lobbying expenses, and $102,400 in expenses less than $75.   

July-August 2025 Top Retained Lobbyists by Compensation  

The top three retained lobbyists, ranked by compensation only, saw several changes in July-August 2025. Brown & Weinraub Advisors, LLC remained in the top spot at $3.82 million, followed by Bolton-St Johns, LLC at $2.89 million and Kasirer LLC, down from the number two spot in May-June 2025, at $2.81 million. The remainder of the top 10 included Greenberg Traurig, LLP in fourth at $2.37 million, followed by Ostroff Associates, Inc (#5), Hollis Public Affairs Inc. (#6), Hinman Straub Advisors, LLC (#7), and The Parkside Group, LLC (#8). Rounding out the top 10 were Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC (#9) at $1.14 million and Constantinople & Vallone Consulting LLC (#10) at $1.09 million. 

July-August 2025 Lobbyists Firms Ranked by Total Number of Clients  

The top lobbying firms by number of clients in July-August 2025 also remained unchanged from May-June 2025. The top spot continued to be held by Brown & Weinraub Advisors, LLC, with 293 Contractual Clients and 328 Beneficial Clients, followed by Bolton-St. Johns, LLC with 228 Contractual Clients and 231 Beneficial Clients (#2), and Kasirer LLC with 198 Contractual Clients and 202 Beneficial Clients (#3). Greenberg Traurig, LLP remained in fourth on the list, followed by Ostroff Associates, Inc. (#5), Hinman Straub Advisors, LLC (#6), Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC (#7), and Constantinople & Vallone Consulting LLC (#8). Rounding out the top 10 list were The Parkside Group, LLC with 93 Contractual Clients and 98 Beneficial Clients and Hollis Public Affairs with 91 Contractual Clients and 92 Beneficial Clients.  

July-August 2025 Top Topics, Bills, and Parties Lobbied 

The top three parties lobbied also saw changes from May-June 2025. The Executive Chamber/Office of the Governor claimed the top spot with 657 filings, followed by the NYS Assembly Majority Program and Counsel Staff (#2) with 151 filings and the NYS Senate Majority Program and Counsel Staff (#3) with 149 filings. 

Miscellaneous business, budget appropriations, and health once again made up the top three subjects lobbied in July-August 2025. However, the top bills lobbied saw several changes when compared to May-June 2025. Assembly Bill 8888, which relates to the providing gas service to new customers, claimed the top spot with 34 filings. Senate Bill 929, which provides for the protection of health information, ranked number two on the list, followed by Senate Bill 4423, which relates to amending the estates, powers, and trusts law, at number three. In the fourth spot, falling from the top three in May-June 2025, was Assembly Bill 1749 which would enact the packaging reduction and recycling infrastructure act.  

COELIG Ongoing Efforts to Increase Accessibility to Lobbying Data 

A chief priority for the Commission since its inception has been to increase public access to the data the Commission receives:

• More Frequent and Timely Lobbying Reports: In 2025, the Commission began releasing preliminary aggregated lobbying data every two months to increase transparency in lobbying spending.
• Open NY: In 2023, COELIG added its hundreds of millions of lobbying records to the Open NY data website, including Lobbyist Bi-Monthly Reports, which is the largest single dataset hosted on the platform. To date, more than 278 million lobbying records are available for download by journalists, researchers, and the public.
• Section 166 Forms: In early 2024, the Commission digitized thousands of the 2022 and 2023 Executive Law Section 166 records of appearances before the 11 Executive Branch agencies and departments designated in that statute, so they are more readily searchable and available electronically to anyone who requests access. The Commission continues to add Section 166 records for 2024 and 2025.
• Lobbying Registration and Termination Docket: To increase public access to lobbying data, in 2023 COELIG launched an enhanced Lobbying Registration and Termination Docket that provides increased transparency concerning information about the contractual agreements between clients and lobbyists, including level of government to be lobbied, description of agreement, compensation and expense information, and more. 

About COELIG     

Established by the 2022 Ethics Commission Reform Act and made effective in July 2022, the Commission’s charge is to foster public trust in government by ensuring compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. It has jurisdiction over more than 330,000 officers and employees at state agencies and departments, including commissions, boards, state public benefit corporations, public authorities, SUNY, CUNY, and the statutory closely affiliated corporations; the four statewide elected officials and candidates for those offices; employees and members of the state Legislature and legislative candidates; and state and local lobbyists and their clients.       

The Commission administers, enforces, and interprets New York’s ethics and lobbying laws by providing information, education, and guidance regarding ethics and lobbying laws; promoting compliance through audits, investigations, and enforcement proceedings; issuing formal and informal advisory opinions; and promulgating regulations implementing the laws under its jurisdiction.      

The Commission promotes transparency by conducting its proceedings publicly to the fullest extent permitted by law and by making the financial and other disclosures filed by those subject to the Commission’s authority publicly available. These disclosures include, but are not limited to, annual financial disclosure statements filed by over 30,000 individuals, and millions of records contained in registrations and activity and expense reports filed by lobbyists and their clients.