"Vested interests are working harder than ever to achieve their goals in state capitols and state agencies across the country," reports the Center for Public Integrity. The organization's review of 2004 lobbying activities found that nearly $953 million was spent "attempting to influence state legislators and executive branch officials" in the 42 states that track such spending. Twenty-five states saw an increase in lobbying expenditures. State-level lobbying has grown to the point where there are now, on average, "five lobbyists and almost $130,000 in expenditures per state legislator." Several states did boost their oversight of lobbying last year, by strengthening registration and disclosure requirements, establishing a "cooling-off period" for former lawmakers planning to become lobbyists, or restricting lobbyists' gifts to public officials.

The Republican Party-associated PR firm Russo Marsh and Rogers (RM&R) has been busy in Iraq, promoting Move America Forward's recent "Truth Tour" of right-wing radio hosts there and preparing a campaign for the Kurdish Regional Government. RM&R principal Joe Wierzbicki told journalist Bill Berkowitz that his firm's Kurdish campaign "will thank the American people for supporting the war in Iraq, and encourage Americans to visit and invest in the Kurdish region." Wierzbicki said RM&R is "not advocating an independent Kurdistan," but "the Kurds would like the rest of the country to look at the Kurdish region and see it as a model" for Iraq. The Kurdish campaign will likely be a short-term effort, including television and print ads, that will start in late summer or early fall. "It's important to recognize that the Kurds are not hostile to the West," Wierzbicki added.

Despite securing up to $13 billion in federal subsidies in the recently passed energy bill, according to estimates by Public Citizen, the nuclear industry continues its PR offensive. The major industry group Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is "soliciting help from PR agencies to assist in removing all major legislative and regulatory impediments to a nuclear renaissance," reports PR Week. The major goal of the 14 month, $8 million campaign is "to bolster public support for the development of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain" in Nevada. The campaign will include outreach to "sympathetic groups, including selected members of the academic, public health, and environmental communities." Some eight PR firms, including Ogilvy, Burson-Marsteller and Dittus Communications, are interested in working on the campaign. NEI will select a firm by August 15.