At the federal level, the money funds both staff — usually registered lobbyists, communications staff and administrative support — and outside consultants. Boeing spent $3 million on 16 different consulting firms. The other $12 million went to in-house staff and “lobbying-related expenses” incurred by staff. None of this money goes to politicians or to political campaigns — that is a completely different beast — and it does not include advertising or PR campaigns that obliquely influence policy makers.

The team of in-house and outside lobbyists do a number of things including monitoring legislation, writing internal position papers laying out the company’s arguments for and against legislation, briefing execs on changing rules, organizing visits from execs, and participating in strategy sessions with trade associations.

Most importantly they try to exert influence. The most direct way is through meeting with congressional staff and regulators. These meetings are fairly easy to come by — anyone can call a Congressional office and request a meeting on an issue(and more citizens should!), but in most instances you will get shunted to a low level staffer who politely listens to your plea and takes notes. But, in the case of Big Business, that $3 million you spend in consultants brings with it some very deep rolodexes. They can get meetings with Chiefs of Staff, Chief Counsels, and sometimes directly with members of Congress so you can go to a Senate office and have a deep discussion about a specific piece of legislation. You can articulate how the legislation will impact your business, the economy at large, or the Senator’s constituents. You can propose new legislative language. Your team of lawyers can show the underpaid, overworked staffer all the loopholes he’s unknowingly introducing. You can propose a “carve out” to protect some special group (e.g. “Companies that spend $X in R&D should be exempt from provision Y”).

There are many other ways in which lobbyists try to get the ear of Congress, but the above encapsulates a significant portion of the spend you see in lobbying disclosure reports.