Progressive groups look to counter business groups on the air — AFL-CIO goes to bat for reconciliation bill — Former lawmakers add new clients

From: POLITICO Influence - Monday Aug 23,2021 11:04 pm
Presented by the Tax Foundation: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street.
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By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by the Tax Foundation

With Daniel Lippman

INFRASTRUCTURE AIR WARS: A coalition of progressive groups are going on the air to counter ad blitzes from business groups over nine moderate Democrats’ threats to sink a budget resolution unlocking the reconciliation process on social spending priorities. This morning the groups, the Working Families Party, Organize For Justice — an arm of Justice Democrats Indivisible Project, Sunrise Movement and MoveOn, announced a six-figure ad buy in the districts of the nine lawmakers: Georgia’s Carolyn Bourdeaux, Hawaii’s Ed Case, California’s Jim Costa, Texas’ Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez and Filemón Vela, Maine’s Jared Golden, New Jersey’s Josh Gottheimer and Oregon’s Kurt Schrader.

— The ads come amid an intraparty spat over how to handle the reconciliation process, which the Senate began earlier this month, and a bipartisan infrastructure package, which also passed the upper chamber earlier this month. The group of centrists has called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to put the $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill on the floor immediately, rather than hold it until after the House passes the reconciliation bill, an effort by the caucus to retain leverage over its contents. A pair of outside groups last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and No Labels , moved to provide the group of moderates with air cover, each launching ads thanking the lawmakers for their support of moving the bipartisan package quickly.

— The progressive groups’ ads label the moderates as “conservative Democrats,” whom they accuse of “sabotaging” President Joe Biden’s proposed investments in clean energy, education, broadband, childcare and Medicare expansion, and urge viewers to stop “obstructing” the president.

— Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO is weighing in to urge Democrats to follow the plan outlined by Pelosi, and vote to approve a rule setting the terms of debate for the bipartisan bill, a voting rights bill and the budget resolution kickstarting the process for reconciliation. “Any delay in passing the budget resolution will jeopardize the transformative goals of the Build Back Better reconciliation legislation,” William Samuel, the union’s top lobbyist, wrote in a letter to House members today.

— Samuel argued that the union, which has also been a vocal supporter of the bipartisan bill, is “confident it will pass before Congress adjourns for the year.” But “there is no reason to threaten or delay passage of the much larger and more ambitious budget resolution,” which is likely to include a Democratic-backed labor overhaul that has languished in the Senate, in addition to other party priorities. The budget resolution “needs to pass now if Congress is to complete the reconciliation process before the end of the year,” he argued.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from the Tax Foundation:

How you pay for it matters. While Washington debates the best ways to fund an historic infrastructure investment, one little-known pay-for is flying under the radar. GILTI is a Republican-passed policy that President Biden has proposed doubling down on. The only problem: it doesn’t work as advertised. Learn more about GILTI, a foreign tax with a local impact.

 

NEW CLIENTS FOR FORMER LAWMAKERS: The Greeting Card Association, which represents nearly 200 publishers and industry partners promoting greeting cards, has hired former Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) of Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures. Yoder will lobby on behalf of the trade association for issues relating to proposed reforms to the U.S. Postal Service, which delivers more than 60 percent of greeting cards in the U.S., according to the group, as well as the appropriations bill that funds USPS. Yoder, a former House Appropriations subcommittee chair, is the first new lobbyist for the group since 2013, when it signed its sole other outside lobbying firm, Morrissey Strategic Partners.

Fortior Solutions, an identity verification service provider formerly known as SureID, has hired a team from Livingston Group that includes former Rep. Bob Livingston and three others. They’ll lobby on identity access and security issues for the company, according to newly filed disclosures.

DEMOCRATS’ CELEBRITY ATTORNEY MARC ELIAS LEAVES PERKINS COIE: Marc Elias, a voting rights lawyer who has represented the Democratic National Committee and led Biden campaign efforts to combat legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election, is leaving Perkins Coie to launch his own firm,” Bloomberg’s Chris Opfer reports.

— “Elias is taking 13 lawyers, including 10 partners, with him from Perkins Coie, according to a statement released by the massive law firm Sunday. The move will allow the new Elias Law Group to ‘engage more directly in the political and electoral process,’ Perkins Coie said in the statement. Elias— who was general counsel for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign—led the Biden campaign’s legal fight against efforts to throw out ballots and overturn election results in a number of states by Trump supporters in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. He has since turned his attention to Republican efforts to tighten voting requirements in states like Georgia, Texas and Arizona.”

*STEFON VOICE* THIS STORY HAS EVERYTHING: POLITICO’s Chris Cadelago has a look at the influence campaign being waged by MSNBC host and civil rights icon Al Sharpton, who is trying to enlist Biden to weigh in on the makeup of a powerful but obscure court in Biden’s home state of Delaware.

— “The case involves jilted lovers, the separation of a nearly $1 billion company, cameos from the likes of Alan Dershowitz and Rudy Giuliani and, if Sharpton has his way, an intervention from Delaware’s favorite son. And should the bending of Biden’s ear prove successful, it would resemble one of the most audacious quasi-lobbying efforts in recent memory.”

— “Delaware’s leaders see no reason for Sharpton to beckon their most famous neighbor to intervene. They say they are already at work on the issue of court diversity and have been for some time. Attorneys close to Bouchard and defenders of the Chancery court, which holds sway over mergers, acquisitions, guardianships and sales of corporations, insist that Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware ’s pressure campaign is little more than astroturf activism fronted by out-of-state players such as Sharpton as part of a broader plot to exact revenge on behalf of TransPerfect brass and Phil Shawe, the company’s co-founder, president and chief executive.”

IF YOU MISSED IT OVER THE WEEKEND: Time’s Up , the charity formed in the wake of the #MeToo movement by female celebrities aimed at helping fight sexual harassment in the workplace, is in the midst of an “‘existential crisis’” after being swept up in the fallout of the sexual harassment allegations prompting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, Jodi Kantor, Arya Sundaram, Melena Ryzik and Cara Buckley write for The New York Times.

— “But even before the allegations against Mr. Cuomo, confusion and controversy had been building inside the group over its leadership’s ties — and help — to those in power, according to interviews with dozens of current and former board members, employees and other advocates, as well as a review of internal documents. Some of them feared that the high-level connections at the heart of the group’s strategy compromised its credibility, or made the powerful more of a priority than the ordinary women Time’s Up was meant to help.”

— “Where to draw the line has come up again and again. In spring 2020, [Chief Executive Tina] Tchen, an Obama administration veteran, helped hold back a letter from women’s groups prodding Joseph R. Biden Jr. to respond more quickly to a sexual misconduct allegation — even as she raised funds for his campaign as a private citizen. About the same time, after Ms. Tchen discussed a new for-profit consulting arm that could allow her and others to advise corporations, including those facing abuse accusations, board and staff members grew concerned, according to meeting notes. The plan never moved forward.”

 

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Jobs Report

Jae Jang is now Policy Adviser to Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) to help with his work on the Financial Services Committee and as the top Republican on the Housing and Insurance subcommittee. He was most recently assistant vice president at Rich Feuer Anderson.

Sean Deverey is joining Honeywell as director of government affairs, working with the Honeywell Aerospace business team and their government affairs portfolio for unmanned aerial systems, urban air mobility systems and related technologies, also supporting defense aerospace. He was most recently director of government affairs at Iris Automation.

Authentic has tapped Cat Stern as director of digital persuasion. Most recently, she was media director at Lockwood Strategy, where she led the media strategy and buying for all of the 2020 ACRONYM and PACRONYM persuasion, registration, and mobilization programs.

Delman Lebel has been named head of U.S. government affairs and policy at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. He most recently was head of strategic alliance development at the company.

David Sanders is now managing partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Foley & Lardner LLP. He was previously a partner at the firm and has been and will continue to be vice-chair of the firm's business law department and co-chair of the trade secret/noncompete specialty practice.

 

Be a Policy Pro. POLITICO Pro has a free policy resource center filled with our best practices on building relationships with state and federal representatives, demonstrating ROI, and influencing policy through digital storytelling. Read our free guides today .

 
 
New Joint Fundraisers

Progress 2022 Victory Fund (Sens. Maggie Hassan, Ron Wyden, Catherine Cortez Masto)

New PACs

All For Our Country (Super PAC)
EcoNexus (Super PAC)
Florida Democratic Action PAC (Super PAC)
The Jungle PAC (PAC)
Onward Kentucky (Hybrid PAC)
RBI PAC (PAC)
Restoring Liberty Political Action Committee Inc. (PAC)
The Republic PAC (Super PAC)
Right Direction Women, Inc. (Super PAC)
Support Our Police PAC Inc. (Super PAC)
TAS PAC (Super PAC)

 

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New Lobbying Registrations

Bell & Lindsay, Inc.: Kindmind
Crowell & Moring LLP: Flextronics International USa, Inc.
Forbes-Tate: Hermeus Corporation
Forbes-Tate: Ice Miller LLP On Behalf Of City Of Birmingham Alabama
Government Relations Group, LLC: Bit5Ive, LLC
Government Relations Group, LLC: Logi[5]Ive, LLC
Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC: Greeting Card Association
Kate Moss: Onward Medical, Inc.
Lne Group: Capio Partners, LLC
Lsn Partners, LLC: Carbyne Inc.
Ml Strategies, LLC: Massmedic
Polsinelli Pc: American Glaucoma Society
Strategies 360: Alternative Ballistics, Inc.
Strategies 360: Peace 4 Animals
The Livingston Group, LLC: Fortior Solutions
The Picard Group, LLC: R&G Fish LLC

A message from the Tax Foundation:

Competing in today’s global economy. Many U.S. businesses must operate in countries across the globe to compete internationally. When U.S. companies succeed abroad, it means more investment and jobs back home: Two-thirds of employees for U.S. multinational companies are based in America.

How you finance infrastructure matters. President Biden has proposed doubling the tax rate on GILTI, a little-known policy passed by Republicans in 2017 to discourage U.S. businesses from shifting profits from IP overseas.

GILTI is poorly designed. It doesn’t just tax IP, and it doesn’t just tax businesses that are looking to shift their profits into low-tax countries. GILTI unintentionally places a surtax on many U.S. companies that want to reach customers overseas.

Making bad policy worse. Whatever its intentions, GILTI is a flawed policy, and doubling down on it now will hurt us abroad, and at home.

Learn more.

 
New Lobbying Terminations

Alliance To Save Energy: Alliance To Save Energy
Grant Consulting Group: Twr Enterprise

 

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