"The opaque system allows industry operatives to shape legislative decisions with little public oversight, a nonprofit research group has found."
"As Maryland lawmakers weigh proposals aimed at reining in utility companies, lowering electricity prices and expanding the state’s low-carbon energy system, a new audit report has found that the lobbyists who want to influence those decisions have largely operated in the dark—and done so legally.
The audit, conducted by the nonprofit research group F Minus, found that lobbyists for fossil fuel companies complied with Maryland’s requirement to disclose which specific bills they lobbied for only 55 percent of the time during the first half of 2025. Without that information, the authors say, it is nearly impossible for the public to know which bills industry representatives opposed or what, if any, positions they took on key climate and energy bills at the time those decisions were being made.
The report examined 95 activity reports filed between November 2024 and April 2025 by 68 lobbyists representing 25 fossil fuel and waste-to-energy companies, and documented what it describes as a pattern of systematic noncompliance that not only obscures industry opposition to climate legislation but also exposes conflicts of interest wherein firms simultaneously represented health organizations and fossil fuel companies accused of contributing to pollution and climate change.
Under Maryland law, lobbyists are required to file activity reports twice a year, in May and November, and include their earnings and expenditures. Maryland Ethics Commission (MEC) guidance says these reports should include legislative bill numbers “where possible,” which advocates say leaves open a loophole resulting in uneven compliance. Reports covering the January through April legislative session are not due until May 31, after the legislative session ends and key signing or veto decisions have already been made."
