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attestation-findings/data/processed/meta_national_lobbying_findings.md
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Meta Platforms — National & State Lobbying Analysis

Research Date: 2026-03-12 Data Sources: OpenSecrets, Bloomberg Government, Dome Politics, Nasdaq filings, Quiver Quantitative, F Minus, ACT | The App Association

Executive Summary

Meta Platforms set an all-time lobbying spending record of $26.29 million in 2025, deploying 86+ lobbyists across 45 of 50 states. This campaign supported the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA) in at least 20 states, with successful passage in Utah, Louisiana, and Texas. Meta simultaneously funded the Digital Childhood Alliance (501(c)(4)) to create grassroots advocacy cover. In Louisiana alone, Meta deployed 12 lobbyists for a single bill (HB-570), including Pelican State Partners LLC (John Dunbar Koch's firm). California lobbying exceeded $1 million for the first three quarters of 2025 alone.

1. Federal Lobbying

Annual Spending

Year Federal Lobbying Spend Notes
2024 $24,000,000 Exceeded Lockheed Martin and Boeing
2025 $26,290,000 All-time record
Q4 2025 $6,500,000 Surpassed prior quarterly highs

Lobbyist Count

  • 2024: 65 registered federal lobbyists
  • 2025: 86+ registered federal lobbyists (32% increase)

Key Issues Lobbied

  • Data privacy
  • Antitrust and competition policy
  • AI oversight
  • Online advertising regulation
  • Platform governance
  • Age verification / child safety
  • TAKE IT DOWN Act

UPDATE (2026-03-13) — LD-2 Filing Analysis: Meta's LD-2 filings explicitly list H.R. 3149/S. 1586, the App Store Accountability Act as a lobbied bill under the CPI issue code. The narrative includes "protecting children, bullying prevention and online safety; youth safety and federal parental approval; youth restrictions on social media." Meta also lobbies on KOSA (S. 1748) and COPPA 2.0 (S. 836). See meta_ld2_lobbying_disclosures.md for complete analysis.

Source: https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000033563 Source: https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/b73445ed-15e5-42e7-a1e8-aeb224755267/print/

2. State-Level Lobbying

Scale

  • Lobbyists hired in 45 of 50 states
  • ASAA-related bills introduced in ~20 states
  • Meta lobbied in support of ASAA in all target states

Confirmed State Activity

State Bill Status Meta Role
Utah SB-142 Signed Mar 2025 Lobbied in support
Louisiana HB-570 Signed Jun 2025 12 lobbyists deployed
Texas SB 2420 Signed May 2025, paused by judge Dec 2025 "Bankrolled" lobbying campaign
Kansas Pending Under consideration Mar 2026 Active lobbying
South Carolina Pending Target state Lobbyists deployed
Ohio Pending Target state Lobbyists deployed
Georgia Pending Under consideration Feb 2026 Record-breaking lobbying
California Multiple Various $1.04M in first 3 quarters 2025
Colorado SB26-051, SB25-086, HB25-1287 Pending Via Headwaters Strategies

3. Louisiana — Detailed Lobbying Analysis

Meta's Louisiana Lobbying Operation for HB-570

Total lobbyists: 12 (per investigative reporting)

Confirmed lobbying firm:

  • Pelican State Partners, LLC (F Minus database)
    • Partners: Johnny Koch, Christian J. Rhodes, Scott Kirkpatrick, Suchitra J. Satpathi
    • Location: 504 Lakeland Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70802
    • Also represents: Roblox Corporation, Uber, AT&T, BP America, CVS Health

Other firms likely involved (based on Meta's known national lobbyist roster — not individually confirmed for LA):

  • Additional firms to be identified through LA Ethics Board quarterly expenditure reports

HB-570 Supporters and Opponents

In Support (Meta's side):

  • Digital Childhood Alliance (Casey Stefanski testified)
  • Louisiana Family Forum
  • Various parent advocacy groups

In Opposition:

  • NetChoice
  • CCIA (Computer & Communications Industry Association)
  • Chamber of Progress
  • R Street Institute

4. California Lobbying

Period Amount
Q1-Q3 2025 $1,036,728
Projected Full Year 2025 Record-breaking (on pace to exceed prior years)
Super PAC spending $65,000,000 (all California tech policy)

Filing System: CAL-ACCESS (being replaced by CARS system) Key Issues: AI legislation, data privacy, age verification

Source: https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/meta-on-path-for-record-year-spend-on-california-tech-lobbying

5. Colorado Lobbying (via Headwaters Strategies)

Per existing findings (headwaters_expenditure_findings.md):

  • Meta retained Headwaters Strategies (Adam Eichberg, Will Coyne) for Colorado lobbying
  • Total Meta → Headwaters payments: $338,500
  • Eichberg is simultaneously NVF Board Chair and Headwaters Co-founder
  • Colorado bills: SB26-051, SB25-086, HB25-1287

CO TRACER Campaign Contributions — COMPLETED

UPDATE (2026-03-13): Full CO TRACER analysis completed. Key findings:

  • Jake Levine (Meta PM): $1,175 to Matt Ball (both committees, maxed, 2025-06-02)
  • Kyle Gardner (Google Policy Mgr): $450 to Matt Ball (2025-03-24)
  • James Rosenthal (Pinterest Attorney): $1,175 to Matt Ball (both committees, maxed, 2025-06-14)
  • Eichberg and Coyne: $20K+ combined giving, but zero to any ASAA sponsor
  • No Meta PAC or corporate contributions found
  • Ball received 8% of fundraising from tech employees — only 2026 CO senate candidate with Meta, Pinterest, Instacart, Anthropic, and Google employee contributions See co_tracer_contribution_findings.md and five_threads_investigation.md.

6. Meta's Multi-State Lobbying Firms

Based on available data, Meta's state lobbying operation includes:

State Known Firm/Lobbyist
Louisiana Pelican State Partners, Adams and Reese LLP, State Capitol Solutions (3 of 9 firms; 12 lobbyists total, $324,992+)
Colorado Headwaters Strategies ($338,500), Ana Martinez ($102K), Dan Sachs ($11K)
Federal 40+ firms, 87 lobbyists (85% revolving door)
Other 42+ states Firms not yet identified

Note: The Substack investigation mentions coordination with DCI Group and Hilltop Public Strategies for DCA messaging, though it's unclear if these firms are directly retained by Meta or by DCA.

7. The DCA Funding Pipeline — Updated Model

Based on cumulative findings, the Meta → DCA funding pipeline operates through multiple channels:

Meta Platforms, Inc.
    │
    ├──→ Direct Lobbying (86+ lobbyists in 45 states, $26.3M federal)
    │
    ├──→ Digital Childhood Alliance (501(c)(4) — donors not disclosed)
    │     ├── Casey Stefanski (Ex-NCOSE) as Executive Director
    │     ├── Dawn Hawkins (NCOSE CEO) as Chair
    │     ├── John Read (ex-DOJ Antitrust) as Senior Policy Advisor
    │     └── Melissa McKay (Utah parent) as grassroots face
    │
    ├──→ Pelican State Partners (LA lobbyists, Koch et al.)
    │
    ├──→ Headwaters Strategies (CO lobbyists, Eichberg/Coyne)
    │     └── Eichberg = NVF Board Chair (Arabella connection)
    │
    ├──→ DCI Group / Hilltop Public Strategies (messaging coordination)
    │
    └──→ $65M Super PACs (California tech policy influence)

Known Arabella Connection

The only confirmed Arabella network link remains Adam Eichberg:

  • Co-founder, Headwaters Strategies (Meta's CO lobbyist)
  • Board Chair, New Venture Fund (Arabella's 501(c)(3))
  • NVF transfers $121M+ annually to Sixteen Thirty Fund (501(c)(4))
  • NVF does NOT directly fund any child safety organizations (per Schedule I analysis)

Whether Meta funds flow through the NVF → Sixteen Thirty Fund → DCA pipeline remains unproven but structurally possible given the opacity of 501(c)(4) donor disclosure.

Sources