This link shows that the industry trade group for amusement parks have spent $620,000 so far this year on lobbying at the federal level
https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000026658
They're mostly working to undo the few regulations left that try to protect public safety. Thanks to their past lobbying, the Consumer Protection Safety Bureau is no longer able to even collect data on how many people are injured at amusement parks. Owners of these parks no longer report that information to federal or state governments. The only way these agencies can track injuries is through reports from hospital emergency room records.
Looks like they also lobby a lot against rules for worker overtime and safety. So they're making workers put in long hours in unsafe conditions.
The industry wants safety controlled by states, because most states have much more lax regulations. Kansas has almost no regulations on these attractions. Owners are allowed to monitor their own safety and aren't required to report any problems. There's no public official, outside of law enforcement, who can make them shut down unsafe rides.
They also spend a lot of money lobbying state legislatures to protect their interests. Data on that lobbying is scarce as most states don't have a system where the public can track spending on lobbying by industries.
ETA:
State hasn’t inspected Schlitterbahn water slide where 10-year-old died since it opened in 2014
Read more here:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94494127.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94494127.html#storylink=cpy
So the Schlitterbahn folks have managed to convince the state not to audit the annual inspections they've supposedly done since 2014. That must be why they give lawmakers a free day at the park. To keep them from auditing the safety inspection reports. That's very irresponsible on the part of those lawmakers and now one of them has paid a big price for ignoring public safety.