Spending by unions, organizations and companies totaled $799.3 million compared with $795.9 million, a less than 1 percent increase. (The Center said the figure is actually down from the fourth quarter of 2008, when lobby spending was $818 million.)

"That might seem like a small increase compared to the billions spent each year on this activity, but in a time of economic turmoil, that's a hefty revenue stream for a single industry," wrote the Center's Lindsay Renick Mayer on the organization's website.

Drug companies were the biggest spenders among industries at $66.8 million, while the oil and gas biz posted a 48 percent increase in spending, the largest percentage increase.

It's worth noting companies that received money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program spent less on lobbying than they had in any quarter of 2008. TARP recipients spent $13.9 million on lobbying so far this year, compared to $20.2 million in January through March of last year and $17.8 million in the last three months of 2008.

In tomorrow's National Journal, I have a story that found K Street's hired guns had a tough quarter with 10 of the 15 top lobbying firms reporting a decline in lobbying revenues.

                                                                                                --Bara Vaida