Only Los Angeles and San Francisco spent more on lobbying than HMB

The city of Half Moon Bay spent $958,951 on lobbying the state legislature in the 2007-08 legislative session. The only California cities that spent more were Los Angeles and the city and county of San Francisco, reports the Sacramento Bee.

Statewide, more than $58 million was spent by local government, not including colleges, utilities, special districts or regional coalitions.

Tiny Half Moon Bay, with only about 13,000 residents, helped lead the parade by paying nearly $1 million to push two bills aimed at easing its $18 million debt over a stalled housing project. Neither bill passed.

This is even more dramatic when you consider that Half Moon Bay’s budget was spent lobbying for the passage of a single bill and LA and San Francisco were lobbying on a vast array of issues that affected their millions of residents.