Topeka ? Corporations and interest groups reported spending a record $1.4 million lobbying Kansas state government last year.

A big reason was the American Beverage Association’s successful effort to block a proposed tax on soda and other sugary drinks meant to help balance the state budget.

The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission says the beverage association reported spending $394,000 last year, almost all of it on advertising designed to pressure lawmakers into rejecting the soda tax. The idea didn’t get out of committee in the Senate.

Media advertising and other communications campaigns accounted for two-thirds of lobbyist spending.

The previous annual record for lobbyist spending was $1.3 million in 2008.

Lobbyists must file spending reports with the commission six times a year.