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New Jersey State House in Trenton. - DEPOSIT PHOTOS
New Jersey State House in Trenton. - DEPOSIT PHOTOS
NJ lobbying spending tops $110M for 1st time
Matthew Fazelpoor//May 8, 2026//
Listen to this articleNew Jersey lobbying spending topped $110 million for the first time in 2025, fueled by battles over the $58.8 billion state budget, healthcare legislation, environmental proposals and tax policy.
New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission released its annual lobbying report May 4. According to ELEC, overall lobbying expenditures climbed 5.4% to a record $110.6 million last year, up from $104.9 million in 2024. The number of registered lobbyists increased 4.3% to 947 and represented entities rose 9.5% to a record 2,771.
The most-lobbied piece of legislation was the fiscal year 2026 state budget package, Assembly Bill 5800/Senate Bill 2026, which generated 642 official contacts.
Other heavily lobbied measures included:
- The Packaging and Paper Product Stewardship Act (A5009/S3398)
- Legislation tied to prescription drug coverage for serious mental illness (A4838/S1192)
- The Health Care Cost Containment and Price Transparency Commission proposal (A5376/S4299)
- The Patient and Provider Protection Act (A4953/S3842)
Healthcare-related interests remained the largest overall lobbying sector, followed by miscellaneous business interests, energy and development.
Among special interest groups, New Jersey Realtors ranked as the top spender at $1.4 million, driven largely by a grassroots campaign tied to issues including the realty transfer tax. The remaining top five spenders include:
- Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825 – $1.15 million
- Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) – $853,508
- Chemistry Council of New Jersey – $763,577
- New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers – $672,917
Communications spending – including advertising, direct mail and grassroots outreach – surged nearly 49% year over year to $4.9 million. New Jersey Realtors led, which alone spent more than $1 million on communications activity.
PPAG leads lobbying, again
On the lobbying firm side, Princeton Public Affairs Group again ranked as New Jersey’s top governmental affairs firm by receipts ($10.8 million). Public Strategies Impact followed ($8.5 million) with CLB Partners after ($6.5 million).
MBI GluckShaw ranked fourth at roughly $5 million, while The Zita Group reported nearly $4 million in receipts.
PPAG noted on social media that the latest ELEC filings marked “more than two decades in the No. 1 position” for the firm.
“PPAG has once again been ranked as New Jersey’s top lobbying firm, marking more than two decades in the No. 1 position, according to the latest ELEC filings,” the firm wrote.
“For nearly four decades, PPAG has provided clients with strategic public affairs, government relations, and advocacy services through a bipartisan, team-based model focused on delivering results.
“Thank you to our clients, partners, and team for your continued trust and support.”
More details on the lobbying report are available here.
