Being heard has never been more expensive in Trenton, or lucrative for lobbyists—the hired guns paid to make sure their clients’ interests are represented and amplified at the highest echelons of power at the Statehouse.

Last year’s booming economy, an activist governor, one-party rule, and more than 11,000 bills in the Legislature generated a windfall of clients, and made 2019 a banner year for lobbying in the state—with expenditures by clients topping $100 million for the first time ever.