We talk a lot about the region’s top-paid public company executives, but let’s not forget that around here you can also make a pretty good living atop a national association. And we’ve got plenty of those, too.
Washington seems to be the de facto capital for associations, and not just because it looks nice on your letterhead, but also because it’s conveniently where all the lobbying happens. That’s certainly something many of the organizations on this list have done a lot of, in efforts to gain more federal support for their industries and missions.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which you’ll find in this list, is already the top lobbying spender in 2021 so far, according to OpenSecrets, formerly the Center for Responsive Politics, having shelled out more than $29.6 million on lobbying just in the first half of the year. They’ll likely keep going, seeing as how last year they spent $81.9 million on that effort.
