The Retail Industry Leaders Association spent $684,939 in the second quarter to lobby the federal government on a variety of issues from health care reform to clothing tariffs, according to a recent disclosure report.
That's more than the $550,000 it spent in the first quarter of 2010 and the $480,000 the group spent during 2009's second quarter.
The Arlington, Va.-based trade group — whose members include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., The Home Depot Inc. and Target Corp. — also lobbied the federal government on legislation involving credit card reform, consumer product safety, organized crime, health care reform and food safety, according to a form filed July 20.
A high-profile issue the group watched closely was the Credit CARD act, meant to give credit card users more information and limit policies that consumer rights groups consider abusive. The bulk of the law — which focuses on "credit card accountability, responsibility and disclosure" — took effect in February.
From April through June, RILA lobbied Congress and such federal agencies as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the departments of Treasury, Justice, Commerce, Transportation, the Federal Trade Commission and Homeland Security.
