Allstate, Liberty Mutual, State Farm increase lobbying spending in first quarter
The insurance industry continued to focus on multiple issues, including the REPAIR Act during the first quarter of 2026, lobbying disclosures filed with the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) spent $1.4 million during Q1, the same amount it spent in the last quarter of 2025. Natural disaster mitigation remained a hot topic for the association and other insurance companies.
APCIA also lobbied on issues that include towing regulation, autonomous vehicles regulations, auto insurance costs and the REPAIR Act.
At least eight other organizations also filed disclosures that they lobbied on behalf of APCIA. These groups were paid between $30,000 and $70,000 to lobby on issues that included predatory towing and automated vehicle data access.
During Q1, Allstate spent $1.5 million, more than double the $670,000 it spent during Q4 2025. The Right to Repair Act and autonomous vehicles continued to be on their disclosure list.
The insurance company paid an additional $140,000 to lobbyist firms.
Liberty Mutual also upped its lobbying spending from $580,000 in Q4 2025 to $900,000 in Q1. The REPAIR ACT remained a bill that the company notes was an issue of interest.
State Farm’s spending was slightly increased, with $670,000 spent in Q1 and $660,000 spent in Q4 2025. The company lobbied issues related to the future of the Federal Insurance Office with an emphasis on eliminating or constraining undue regulatory burdens. It also lobbied Issues related to the insurance industry’s response to recent disasters, including fires and hurricanes.
Both State Farm and Allstate were questioned about “running a racket” and patterns of fraud during a May Senate subcommittee hearing investigating claim handling from natural disasters.
The insurance industry spent $172 million on federal lobbying last year, ranking it fourth overall in the category, according to data collected by Open Secrets.
Medical led the spending, with Blue Cross/Blue Shield spending more than $20 million on lobbying last year. However, eight property and casualty insurance companies or organizations were in the top 25 spenders for the insurance sector last year.
Within the insurance industry sector, the APCIA was the sixth-highest spender with $5.8 million dedicated to lobbying last year.
Vehicle insurance groups almost always have representation at any state hearing or meeting involving the regulation of their industry or the collision repair industry.
A Collision Industry Conference meeting panel discussed insurance lobbying at the state level in 2024.
“The insurers have armies of attorneys and representatives that the average repair group cannot compete with,” said Darrell Amberson, Lamettry’s president of operations, during the panel. “But if you have the noble effort, then you have an opportunity to do something.”
Andrew Batenhorst, Pacific B&W Collision Center body shop manager, said that insurance representatives often outnumber collision repair shops at meetings in California.
“There are a lot of insurance people present in those workshops,” Batenhorst said. “There are 5,000 repair facilities in California. A very small percentage actually gets involved with the workshops and tries to help.”
Earlier this year, Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit news site, published an article about insurance’s influence on state lawmaking.
Image
Photo courtesy of Douglas Rissing/iStock