Sears spends $170,000 on lobbying

NEW YORK

Department store operator Sears Holdings Corp., which runs Kmart, Sears and Lands End, spent $170,000 on lobbying in the second quarter on credit card reform legislation and other issues, according to a recent disclosure form.

That's the same amount the retailer spent the first quarter but more than double the $80,000 it spent in the second quarter of 2009.

Sears also lobbied on legislation involving taxation and pension funding, according to the report it filed July 20 with the House's clerk's office covering April through June.

Among the highest-profile issues the group watched was the Credit CARD act, meant to give credit card users more information and limit policies that consumer rights groups consider abusive.

The bulk of the law --which focuses on "credit card accountability, responsibility and disclosure" -- kicked in in February.