In the past 25 years, lobbyists have spent more than $8.6 million on legislators and other public officials, according to data complied by the state Ethics Commission.
Spending has jumped from $160,563 in 1991, the first year of data compiled, to more than $500,000 a year in recent years. It also has increased from a total of $1.19 million over the first five years to more than $3.07 million in the past five years.
Notably, according to the report, spending jumped from $246,137 in 2005 to $329,847 in 2006 - the first year lobbyists had to report first-dollar spending on legislators and public officials.
Previously, lobbyists did not have to disclose spending until they had spent $25 on a public official - leading to hedges such as the "endless tab" at the Marriott hotel, where multiple lobbyists would split the bar tab, giving plausible deniability as to whether any one lobbyist had spent $25 on any one legislator.
Another interesting point in the analysis is that the number of registered lobbyists has remained relatively steady over the years: There were 372 lobbyists in 1991, and 409 in 2015.
The number of lobbyists peaked at 527 in 1998, according to the report.
Deadline for lobbyists to file the first spending disclosures for 2016 is May 16.
Also during Thursday's Ethics Commission meeting:
n Commissioners approved employment exemptions for five top-ranking officials in the governor's office.
Under the Ethics Act, public officials and ranking public employees cannot seek employment with regulated persons or businesses for one year after leaving public service, unless they obtain an exemption from the Ethics Commission.
Granted exemptions Thursday were Charles Lorensen, chief of staff; Mark Imbrogno and Brittany Vascik, deputy general counsels; Lawrence Malone, director of policy; and Robert Quinn, director of intergovernmental affairs.
"Between now and the end of the year, you're going to see a lot of these requests," Chairman Robert Wolfe noted, since Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's second term ends in January.
n Commissioners discussed two vacancies on the nine-member commission. Longtime Commissioner Jack Buckalew died in March and Commissioner Mike Greer resigned last month to campaign for his son, Bob, who is running for circuit judge in Harrison County.
That leaves the commission with seven members, or just two above the minimum needed for a quorum.
Wolfe said Tomblin has been advised of the vacancies, adding, "I don't know if this is the highest thing on his list, since they're still fighting with the budget."
Under a 2014 law restructuring the commission, the governor is required to fill vacancies on the panel within 60 days.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.