• Legislation, including H.R. 7321 (Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act) and H.R. 1424 (Emergency Economic Stabalization Act of 2008), and administrative action to assist motor vehicle companies and motor vehicle finance companies secure emergency federal financial assistance.

Duration: November 5, 2008 to January 1, 2009

General Issues: Automotive Industry

Spending: about $60,000 (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, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Treasury - Dept of