by , @TomLoftus_CJ –

Here are the highest-paid lobbyists working the Kentucky General Assembly through the first eight months of 2016.

The nearly 700 corporations and associations that lobby the General Assembly are required to report exactly how much they pay each lobbyist they retain. These reports are filed regularly with the Legislative Ethics Commission.

Recently, these groups reported their lobbying fees and expenses for the period of May 1 through Aug. 31.  Listed below are what the ethics commission’s website shows are the total in fees paid to particular lobbyists by their many clients between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31.

Each of the following lobbyists has many clients. Listed with each name are: the total in reported fees paid by those clients this year through Aug. 31, the number of clients he or she works for, and a sampling of their clients.

Bob Babbage, $599,954

27 clients including Cash Express, Kentucky Community and Technical College Systems, Aetna Inc.

Sean Cutter, $517,983

48 clients including Houchens Industries, Citigroup Washington, AmeriHealth-Caritas

John McCarthy, $479,454

52 clients including Altria (Philip Morris USA), Jefferson County Public Schools, KentuckyOne Health

Patrick Jennings, $458,872

28 clients including AT&T, Consumer Healthcare Products Assn., Swedish Match

Ronny Pryor, $413,100

13 clients including Kentucky Hospital Assn., LifePoint Hospitals, Hospital Corporation of America

Ellen Williams, $395,145

43 clients including Houchens Industries, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky Assn. of Counties

Karen Thomas-Lentz, $385,443

27 clients including Fresenius Medical Care, Swisher International, Hewlett-Packard

Chris Nolan, $384,887

40 clients including EQT Corp., Citigroup Washington, Kentucky State University

John Cooper, $325,992

26 clients including Kentucky Medical Assn., Toyota, Waste Management Inc..

Kelley Abell, $299,332

17 clients including Res-Care, Kentucky Assn. of Adult Day Centers, Norton Healthcare

Leigh Thacker, $287,453

34 clients including Universal Health Services, Outdoor Advertising Assn., Kentucky Press Assn.

Marc Wilson, $267,521

28 clients including Check Into Cash, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Advance America Cash Advance Centers

Kevin Payton, $265,221

30 clients including Fidelity Investments, Outdoor Advertising Assn., Universal Health Services

John Y. Brown III, $258,900

24 clients including SAS Institute, Xerox, Key Bank National Assn.

Laura Owens, $253,650

24 clients including Insurance Auto Auction, Uber, Cumberland River Comp Care

David Whitehouse, $214,933

6 clients including Ascential Care Partners, Accenture, Bluegrass New Directions

Jitter Allen, $208,620

7 clients including Altria (Philip Morris USA), Kentucky Cable Telecommunications Assn., Purdue Pharma

Jason P. Underwood, $194,500

6 clients including Buffalo Trace Distillery, Delaware North, Kentucky Smokefree Assn.

Gene McLean, $181,583

7 clients including Kentucky Beer Wholesalers, Kentucky Hospital Assn., Churchill Downs

Bart Baldwin, $173,386

10 clients including Kentucky Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky, ChanceLight

Source: Legislative Ethics Commission