House Speaker Ron Mariano shelled out $41,000 in July to a research and data analytics firm for a “voter survey” conducted in the spring but it is unclear what the Quincy Democrat wanted to study, according to state campaign finance filings.

The speaker turned to EMC Research, which lists many political clients on its website and is widely used in Massachusetts politics, for the survey as his chamber was working on a series of critical policies like state-run shelter reforms and responses to the Steward Health Care bankruptcy.

A campaign spokesperson for Mariano declined to provide a copy of the “voter survey” or detail the issue or set of topics he sought to explore but said it was conducted in the spring and EMC Research provides valuable insights into voter sentiments on a range of subjects.

A message sent to EMC Research through a contact form on its website and an email to the company’s chief executive officer went unanswered.

It is unclear if the survey Mariano paid for was used to strategize any of the weighty topics the House was dealing with earlier this year. A spokesperson for Mariano’s House office referred questions about the poll and its use to the speaker’s campaign arm, citing its “political purposes.”

But the price of the poll may offer some insights into its scope.

A survey testing a matchup between politicians could run anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 while a poll costing $41,000 likely covered a series of topics, according to a person familiar with the research who requested anonymity to discuss the matter.

“If they spent $41,000, that is a robust issues poll on probably a host of things before the Legislature or not before the Legislature,” the person told the Herald.

MassINC Polling President Steve Koczela, who regularly surveys voters in Massachusetts, said the cost of the poll is not an unusual amount.

Prices for polls can vary depending on their exact nature, including whether live telephone or text message methods are used, the number of people surveyed, how narrow the sample group is, and the number of languages used, Koczela said in an interview Wednesday.

“It would not surprise me at all to see a significant poll be done for $41,000. It doesn’t raise any red flags,” he said.

House lawmakers had a range of policies on their plate in March, April, and May.

The House released a plan in March to curtail stays in state-run emergency shelters housing families with children and pregnant women to nine months, a controversial move that upset some advocates but legislators argued was necessary to curb skyrocketing costs.

Lawmakers were also hunting for legislative solutions later in the month to the crisis unfolding at Steward Health Care. The Dallas-based company declared bankruptcy earlier this year, a move that threatened to upend service for thousands of residents in Massachusetts.

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The House later put forward a nearly 100-page proposal in May that attempted to ban the type of lease agreements between hospitals and health care real estate investment trusts that Beacon Hill legislators argued pushed Steward Health Care into the red.

That bill did not make it across the finish line before the Legislature concluded its formal business for the year in the early morning hours of Aug. 1, though House and Senate negotiators are still locked in private talks over the proposal.

Beacon Hill was also grappling with a murky revenue picture this spring that led Gov. Maura Healey to put strict hiring rules in place for executive branch agencies, a measure that is still in effect as the calendar turns to the fall.

House Democrats released their annual state budget at the start of April, which clocked in at $58 billion and included a series of policy measures.

Mariano indicated in May that his chamber would pursue climate-related policy, which would turn out to be legislation focused on siting and permitting for renewable energy projects. A month later, the speaker also said the House would take up legislation clarifying parenting laws.

The “voter survey,” which was paid for by Mariano’s campaign account on July 1, was not the first time the speaker has turned to EMC Research.

The Quincy Democrat handed the Columbus, Ohio-based company more than $25,200 in April for consulting services, state campaign finance records show.

The House Victory Fund, a political action committee led by House Democratic leadership, paid EMC Research $20,000 in November 2021 and $13,500 in December 2021 for polling, according to state data.

Lawmakers, other elected officials, and political hopefuls across Massachusetts have also hired the company.

United for Justice, the committee behind a ballot question that would hand rideshare drivers for companies like Uber the right to unionize, has paid more than $153,000 to EMC Research since October 2023 for surveys and focus groups related to the measure, state data shows.

Rep. Erika Uyterhoven, a second-term Democrat who successfully fended off a former legislative staffer in the state’s Democratic primary elections this month, also spent $15,000 with the company in August for a poll, according to campaign finance records.