(The Associated Press circulated the following on September 25, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe spent $1.59 million lobbying the federal government on tax credits for track maintenance and other issues in the second quarter, according to a recent disclosure report.
That’s an increase from the $1.32 million the company reported it spent in the first quarter and $1.35 million spent in the second quarter of 2009.
The Fort Worth, Texas, company said in a report filed July 20 with Congress that it lobbied on extending a tax credit for rail maintenance, improving rail infrastructure, railroad antitrust enforcement, safety and other issues.
Besides Congress, the company lobbied the Department of Transportation.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the nation’s second-largest railroad operator, is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which bought all the shares it didn’t already own in a $26.7 billion deal earlier this year.