Wal-Mart spent $1.78 million lobbying in 4Q on health care reform, credit card issues

Wal-Mart spent $1.78 million lobbying in 4Q

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, spent nearly $1.78 million lobbying in the fourth quarter on a wide range of issues from health care reform to organized crime and food safety issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

The low-price retailer, based in Bentonville, Ark., also lobbied on credit card issues and clean energy matters in October through December, according to the form it filed Feb. 26 with the House clerk’s office.

One of the highest-profile issues Wal-Mart monitored was the Credit CARD act, which is meant to give credit card users more information and stop policies widely considered abusive. The bulk of the law — which focuses on “credit card accountability, responsibility and disclosure” — kicked in last month.

Another hot button is health care reform. Wal-Mart, long a poster child for bad corporate behavior, is supporting a federal mandate for employer-funded health insurance, a position the largest U.S. retail trade group — the National Retail Federation — is fighting.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has been making steps toward environmental sustainability like cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Its efforts are ahead of climate legislation that’s being debated in Congress that would require companies to reduce emissions and take other steps.

Wal-Mart said last month that it wants its suppliers to reduce the greenhouse gases they produce by 20 million metric tons by the end of 2015. It earlier announced an effort to reduce its own emissions by designing more energy-efficient stores and pursuing alternative fuels for its trucks.