SALEM - Lobbying the Legislature may not come cheap, but it apparently hasn't become much more expensive in recent years.

Employer reports on file Monday with the state show their lobbyists spent $19.6 million plying their trade at the 2003 Legislature, compared with $19.8 million in the 2001 session.

The 2003 total will climb because not all employers had filed the required reports with the Government Stan-dards and Practices Commission by the Jan. 31 deadline. But most filed on time, so last year's spending isn't likely to far exceed the 2001 session.

Overall lobbying expenses haven't increased by much since 1999, when employers reported spending $19 million.

The number of registered lobbyists fell to 483 at the start of the 2003 session from 540 when the 2001 Legislature began.

Veteran lobbyist Mark Nelson of Salem said the economic slump might have kept spending flat.

"I think you had a steady growth of groups being represented in the 1990s," Nelson said. "If there's any economic impact it's probably that you've lost some marginal groups who can't afford it."

He said some lobbyists also haven't raised their fees because their business clients haven't been making money.

The number of employers with registered lobbyists rose from 583 at the start of the 2001 session to 630 at the start of the 2003 session.

There are more employers than lobbyists because some lobbyists, like Nelson, represent multiple clients.

Government groups continue to spend millions to lobby the state government. The largest single lobby outlay reported for 2003 was by the Association of Oregon Counties, which spent $475,000.

The League of Oregon Cities spent $254,000, the city of Portland spent $298,000 and the Oregon School Boards Association spent $210,000.

Oregon Health Sciences University, a public corporation, reported spending $335,000.

All told, government agencies or groups spent close to $3 million on lobbying last year.

State agencies themselves reported spending more than $500,000 lobbying legislators.

The local government and school boards associations are examples of organizations that spend much of their time lobbying and tend to report all or a large part of their employees' compensation as lobbying.

The law uses a broad brush to define lobbying. The law says it's basically "influencing or attempting to influence legislative action" or "attempting to obtain the good will of legislative officials."

The largest business lobby spender last year, in reports filed as of Monday, was the Oregon Restaurant Association at $454,000.

The group is interested in several topics that are often before lawmakers, such as the minimum wage and regulation of video lottery terminals in bars and taverns.

The Oregon Education Association, the state's biggest teachers' union, spent $329,000, making it the top spender among unions. The Oregon Public Employees Union was next at $174,000.

A big spender among industries was health care with outlays of at least $1.2 million as insurers and others reacted to a series of cuts and restorations to the Oregon Health Plan for low-income people.

Reports from Anheuser-Busch, the nation's biggest beer company, show how lobby spending jumps when there's a hot issue affecting an industry.

The company spent $14,000 on lobbying during the 2001 Legislature. The spending shot up to $76,000 in 2002, when lawmakers held five special sessions to deal with budget problems and frequently discussed raising the beer tax.

The company spent $34,000 in 2003, when a beer tax increase also was considered. The tax wasn't increased in either year and hasn't been raised since 1977.