Focus on the Family affiliates high on list of big-spending lobbying groups, Pew says

Washington DC, USA - Religion-related lobbying groups have increased fivefold since 1970 in Washington, D.C., from fewer than 40 to more than 200 today, according to a study released today.

Religious advocacy groups spend $390 million a year and employ more than 1,000 people in the capital to influence national public policy, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reports in "Lobbying for the Faithful: Religious Advocacy Groups in Washington, D.C.".

The report states that these organizations work on about 300 policy issues.

About 40 "big spenders" — including Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family affiliate CitizenLink and a former division of Focus called the Family Research Council — accounted for more than $330 million of the outlay.

According to the most recent data available, 2008-2009, the top five annual spenders were:

* American Israel Public Affairs Committee, $87.9 million in 2008; *

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, $26.7 million in 2009;

* Family Research Council, $14.3 million in 2008;

* American Jewish Committee, $13.4 million in 2008; and, Concerned Women for America, $12.6 million in 2009.

Family therapist and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson helped start the Family Research Council in 1983. The conservative Christian advocacy group merged with Focus in 1988, but then became an independent nonprofit in 1992.

Focus affiliate CitizenLink, another of Dobson's progeny, comes in ninth on the top-spender list having spent $10.8 million in 2009. Citizenlink, formerly called Focus on the Family Action, was created in 2004 Focus on the Family changed its name to CitizenLink in 2010 after Dobson and the Focus on the Family board parted ways.

Pew researchers say that, historically, religious advocacy groups worked on domestic issues, yet, currently, as many groups work exclusively on international affairs as on domestic. And almost two-thirds work on both.

Findings include:

* About one in five groups, 19 percent, have a Roman Catholic perspective. About 18 percent represent evangelical Protestant views; about 12 percent are Jewish; 8 percent are mainline Protestant; and, 8.5 percent are Muslim.

* Many smaller groups, such as Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs also support advocacy groups. However, the largest category is interreligious. One-quarter, or 54, groups represent multiple faiths.

* The agendas vary, but the most commonly addressed issues are: marriage, relationship between church and state, religious rights and freedoms, capital punishment and bioethics issues such as abortion and end of life.

* The most common international topics are are human rights, debt relief and other economic justice issues. About one in five groups are devoted to religious freedom.