• Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 federal preemption language and FAA preemption as applicable to air ambulance services. Federal Aviation Act Reauthorization (H.R. 3539, S.2972) and short-term extension thereof.

Duration: April 28, 2008 to December 31, 2008

General Issues: Aviation/Aircraft/Airlines

Spending: about $180,000 (But it's complicated. Here's why.)

It can be tricky to figure out how much an organization spent on a particular lobbying engagement. The law only requires lobbyists to report the amount they were paid for federal lobbying each quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000—and if it's less than $3,000 in a given quarter (or less than $13,000 for organizations with in-house lobbyists), they don't have to disclose it at all. Plus, some organizations include spending that doesn’t belong in the report—for instance, money spent lobbying state governments or other legal work.

Agencies lobbied since 2008: House of Representatives, U.S. Senate

Affiliated organizations: Carolinas HealthCare System; WakeMed Cary Hospital; Pitt County Memorial Hospital; Mission Health & Hospitals; Duke University Health System; Wake Forest Univ. School of Med.; New Hanover Regional Med. Center