How Much Does National Small Business Association Spend on Lobbying?

National Small Business Association's $1.9M in disclosed federal lobbying puts it in the mid-tier of registered filers. Spending in the seven-figure range is common for established trade groups, mid-size corporations, and advocacy organizations that maintain a steady but not aggressive presence on Capitol Hill.

National Small Business Association's disclosed lobbying focuses on a narrow 3-issue footprint. A focused issue list usually means the organization concentrates its federal engagement on a small set of bills or rulemakings directly relevant to its core business.

The Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act requires anyone who contacts covered federal officials on behalf of a paying client — and crosses time and dollar thresholds — to register and file quarterly. Filings are publicly available through the Senate Office of Public Records, which is the original source for every dollar figure on this page. The same filings feed downstream research at OpenSecrets, where you can cross-reference individual lobbyists, bills tracked, and related campaign contributions.

1 of 2 lobbyists reported by National Small Business Association (50%) disclose prior federal government service — a high revolving-door share. The LDA cover sheet flags any "covered position" the lobbyist held in the executive branch, Congress, or a senior staff role within the past two years.

Among the named bench, lobbyists with disclosed prior federal service include Kenneth L. Lewis (Former Deputy Administrator, EPA). The covered-position field on LDA cover sheets captures executive-branch and senior congressional roles held within the prior two years.

Within the Trade Association sector, National Small Business Association ranks #0 of 113 tracked organizations by disclosed lobbying spend. The sector leader is US Chamber of Commerce at $387.8M; the sector average is $9.6M. National Small Business Association's $1.9M sits 80% below the sector average.

National Small Business Association's LobbySpend Influence Score of 55/100 (grade C) is the most common grade in the index — it covers organizations with established but moderate federal advocacy programs. The score combines disclosed total spend (40%), issue breadth (30%), and revolving-door connections (30%). A C-grade is typical of mid-size corporations and trade associations with steady quarterly filings on a focused issue set.

Across the 5-year window from 2020 to 2024, National Small Business Association's annual disclosed lobbying spend has held roughly steady — $362K at the start versus $375K at the most recent year-end. Year-to-year wobbles inside that range usually reflect timing of legislative cycles rather than a strategic shift.

Every dollar on this page comes from quarterly filings submitted under the Lobbying Disclosure Act and published by the Senate Office of Public Records. We pull those filings via the lda.senate.gov public API, deduplicate amendments, and aggregate by registrant or client across the years shown. The "amount" for each filing is the larger of reported income (for lobbying firms) or reported expenses (for in-house programs), which is the standard convention used by both the Senate's own dashboards and outside researchers including OpenSecrets.

The LobbySpend Influence Score is a composite indicator: 40% disclosed total spend, 30% number of distinct general issue areas lobbied on, and 30% share of named lobbyists with prior federal government service. The score is descriptive — it summarizes what was disclosed — and should not be read as a measure of effectiveness, ethics, or political outcomes. Read the full methodology for the exact formulas, caveats, and known limitations of LDA disclosures.