Details about this story

• Source: Bergen Record
• Date: September 30, 2007
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Herb Jackson
• Topics: Lobbying
• Data Types: Federal Data
• Description/Excerpt: All told, more than $4 million of the taxes, tolls and tuition paid in New Jersey went to lobbyists in Washington last year, a 64 percent increase over five years earlier, an analysis by The Record found. Ironically, tight budgets are driving the growth. More and more lobbyists are convincing cash-strapped mayors, freeholders and college presidents they just aren't doing their jobs if they don't have someone -- usually a former congressional aide, but it could be a congressman's son -- to help them navigate the federal funding maze. Every state college and university now has at least one lobbyist in Washington, and the number of local governments with hired guns is shooting up.