Manufacturers among big 2022 lobbying winners: survey

Trade associations representing manufacturers were the most effective at lobbying Congress and the Biden administration this year, according to an APCO Worldwide report released Wednesday.

The report, which surveyed more than 300 congressional staffers, executive branch officials and business executives, found that manufacturers successfully built strong relationships with top policymakers, while the health care, financial services and tech industries were also big winners.

That finding comes after manufacturers secured enormous tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act and got senators to exclude a key industry tax deduction from their minimum corporate tax proposal. Manufacturers will also benefit from massive subsidies to build microchips in the U.S. and new infrastructure funding. 

Policymakers surveyed by APCO pointed to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation​, which represents Ford, General Motors and other top car manufacturers, as this year’s most effective trade association when it comes to direct lobbying. The group’s members will benefit from electric vehicle tax credits that almost didn’t make it into Democrats’ climate bill.  

“The results demonstrate the importance of engaging to advance and protect the industry they represent and why laying the groundwork now, even with the fate of Congress still to be determined, is crucial for associations to be prepared for the lame duck and new Congress,” Bill Dalbec, managing director of APCO’s research arm, said in a statement.

The APCO survey found that the National Federation of Independent Business, a right-leaning small-business group, was the top-scoring organization in several characteristics, including media relations and local impact. 

Overall, the 50 trade associations examined by the survey together had their second-best year on record when it came to policy wins, seeing their effectiveness dip slightly from last year.