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Presented by Natural Allies for Clean Energy: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | | | With Daniel Lippman PACKAGED-GOODS INDUSTRY ASKS BIDEN FOR MORE DETAILS ON VACCINE REQUIREMENTS: The Consumer Brands Association, which represents household names such as Coca-Cola, Clorox, General Mills and Procter & Gamble, urged the Biden administration to move quickly to offer corporations clarity on how to implement new Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements for employees. “We've been long supporting all efforts to increase vaccination rates,” Betsy Booren , the group’s vice president of regulatory and technical affairs, told PI. But the lack of implementation details has led to a “flood of questions” from the group’s members, “a small sampling” of which CBA President and CEO Geoff Freeman highlighted in a letter to President Joe Biden this morning. — The Biden administration needs to “move quickly, anticipate challenges, promptly answer questions and partner with the private sector if we are to realize successful implementation of” the six-point plan Biden unveiled last week, Freeman wrote to the president. — Among the details Freeman asked for are how the administration wants companies to consider vaccine documentation, how or whether booster shots will factor into compliance, whether only fully vaccinated employees should be allowed to work, whether vaccine requirements apply only to fully FDA-approved shots and whether there will be a single testing standard for unvaccinated workers. Members also wanted to know what the consequences will be of falsifying vaccination status or test results, who will be responsible for paying for employee Covid tests, how the mandate will interact with unions’ collective bargaining agreements or state and local laws and whether the new rule will allow for exemptions based on religious beliefs or disabilities. — “Getting clear, timely federal guidance is key for long-term success for, I think, any industry, but particularly our industry as our workforces have never stopped working as they are providing the ... food and the personal care products and that toilet paper that everyone's been using for the last 18 months,” Booren told PI. She added that “I don't think these questions are unique to the consumer packaged-goods industry.” — A White House official applauded the private sector for the steps many have already taken to require vaccines or otherwise “create safer workplaces.” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which will be in charge of the new rule, “is currently going through its process of issuing an Emergency Temporary Standard to determine specific provisions which will ensure businesses across the country are requiring their employees to be fully vaccinated or to comply with weekly testing for unvaccinated employees,” the official said. Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Is your client or group mobilizing to protect or scratch parts of the Democrats’ reconciliation bill? Get in touch: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. | | A message from Natural Allies for Clean Energy: Natural gas is accelerating America's transition to a clean energy future. The reliability of natural gas enables the rapid expansion of low-carbon renewable generation, and by partnering the two together, we can achieve rapid emissions reductions today - without sacrificing reliability and affordability. Academics and researchers agree: continuing to invest in natural gas infrastructure will help us reach our climate goals faster. Natural gas -- accelerating our transition to a clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org | | | OIL LOBBY, CONSERVATIVES TARGET FRONT-LINERS ON RECONCILIATION: The American Petroleum Institute over the weekend launched a new round of ads taking aim at Democrats’ reconciliation package, part of a seven-figure ad blitz by the oil lobby. The ads target House members in 140 districts across seven states — Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, West Virginia, Georgia, Minnesota and Virginia — warning that the reconciliation bill would punish American energy producers with new fees and taxes. — The ad push comes days after API and more than 100 other energy, manufacturing, business and labor groups wrote to the heads of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee opposing new fees on methane emissions. — Meanwhile, Americans for Tax Reform, the conservative anti-tax group founded by Grover Norquist, is prepping a $1 million-plus campaign of its own blasting what it calls Democrats’ “tax-and-spend blowout,” Playbook reported this morning. The campaign will include television and digital ads in 30 House districts, most represented by vulnerable Democrats, including Angie Craig (Minn.), Cindy Axne (Iowa), Susie Lee (Nevada), Elaine Luria (Va.), Jared Golden (Maine), Lizzie Fletcher (Texas), Susan Wild (Pa.), Tom Malinowski (N.J.) and Matt Cartwright (Pa.). WHAT’S IN THE DEMS’ RECONCILIATION TAX PROVISIONS: “House Democrats want to raise the corporate rate to 26.5 percent as part of nearly $3 trillion in tax increases to defray the cost of their next big spending package, while boosting [the] top rate for individuals to 39.6 percent,” POLITICO’s Brian Faler reports. The plan from Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) calls for a new 3 percent surtax on those earning more than $5 million, and would increase the top capital gains rate to 28.8 percent from 23.8 percent, in addition to raising taxes on multinational corporations’ overseas profits, tightening estate tax rules and paring back deductions for some unincorporated businesses. The plan, officially released this morning, would also introduce nearly $100 billion in new taxes on tobacco and nicotine. “Taken together, the proposals would be the biggest tax increase in decades and appear to be enough to cover most of what even progressive Democrats hope to spend on their coming ‘reconciliation’ package.” ENVIRONMENTALISTS TRAIN THEIR FIRE ON BUSINESS’ RECONCILIATION OPPOSITION: “Green groups backing the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending package are aiming their fury at one of the bill’s most powerful opponents: corporate business lobbies that claim to support action on climate change,” POLITICO’s Zack Colman and Anthony Adragna report. — “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers all support the much smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill championed by the Biden White House, which includes tens of billions of dollars for responding to climate disasters and promoting green power. They also backed billions in new spending last year for wind, solar and renewable energy. — “But the same business groups have taken a hard line against the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion plan, which would raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations while tackling causes such as health care, child care and racial equity in addition to climate change. The groups are sticking with that position even as some of their own members, such as Pfizer, Microsoft and Bank of America , have criticized them for doing too little on climate. Environmentalists and their supporters in Congress have a message for those companies: Pick a side.” | | | | HAPPENING WEDNESDAY - POLITICO TECH SUMMIT: Washington and Silicon Valley have been colliding for some time. Has the intersection of tech, innovation, regulation and politics finally reached a tipping point? Join POLITICO for our first-ever Tech Summit to explore the evolving relationship between the power corridors of Washington and the Valley. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | MANCHIN SPARS WITH AOC OVER ‘EXXON LOBBYISTS’ DIG: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) swiped back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday after the New York Democrat accused him in a tweet of huddling “weekly” with Exxon and giving “lobbyists [his] pen to write so-called ‘bipartisan’ fossil fuel bills.” The first claim, which stems from a sting video released by an environmental group of Exxon lobbyist Keith McCoy boasting that he talks with Manchin’s office “every week,” is “totally false,” Manchin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Manchin said that he keeps his “door open for everybody,” dismissing Ocasio-Cortez’s assertions — made in reaction to an op-ed from the senator urging Democrats to pare back their reconciliation bill —“just awful” and divisive. “I don't know the young lady really well,” he continued. “I met her one time between sets but that's it. We've not had any conversations. She's speculating and saying things.” THE FACEBOOK FILES: The Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Horwitz debuted the first in a series of exposés on Facebook based on internal documents, focusing on a program known as XCheck, which “exempted high-profile users from some or all of its rules.” The program “was initially intended as a quality-control measure for actions taken against high-profile accounts, including celebrities, politicians and journalists,” Horwitz writes. “Today, it shields millions of VIP users from the company’s normal enforcement process, the documents show. Some users are ‘whitelisted’ — rendered immune from enforcement actions — while others are allowed to post rule-violating material pending Facebook employee reviews that often never come.” — “A 2019 internal review of Facebook’s whitelisting practices, marked attorney-client privileged, found favoritism to those users to be both widespread and ‘not publicly defensible.’ ‘We are not actually doing what we say we do publicly,’ said the confidential review. It called the company’s actions ‘a breach of trust’ and added: ‘Unlike the rest of our community, these people can violate our standards without any consequences.’ Despite attempts to rein it in, XCheck grew to include at least 5.8 million users in 2020, documents show.” | | | |   | | | | | | — The International Wood Products Association named Bradley McKinney as executive director of the organization. He most recently served as vice president of economic security and operations for the Export-Import Bank. — Trevor Jones has been promoted to vice president of government affairs at USTelecom. He joined the trade group in 2019 with a focus on lobbying the Senate and is a Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) alum. — Honeywell has added three new directors to its government relations staff. Whitney Mitchell Brennan will support the buildings and safety and productivity solutions businesses. She was most recently a senior vice president at Firehouse Strategies. Sean Deverey will support the aerospace business and comes from Iris Automation where he led the government affairs office. Kate Conway will support local and state level interests and previously worked in government relations for the U.S. Coast Guard. — Kevin Klein has joined Aptiv as head of global public policy. He was previously senior director of government affairs for the Global Business Alliance. — Strategic Elements added Lynn Stinson as vice president of digital strategy and communications. She was previously a partner at Banner Public Affairs. | | | None. | | | Accountability Works (Super PAC)
Action Action Action (PAC)
America's Action and Hope Committee (PAC)
Food Solutions Action PAC (FSA PAC) (PAC) | | | | 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 Lobbying Registrations | | Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Catf Action, Inc.
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Monteris Medical
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Robert Bosch LLC
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: USa Strong Inc.
Integrated Solutions Group: Daana Technologies
Michael Torrey Associates, LLC: Eat Just, Inc. | | New Lobbying Terminations | | Capitol Resources, LLC: Rural Media Group
Mr. Matthew R. Simmons: Millennium Health | | A message from Natural Allies for Clean Energy: Natural gas is accelerating America's transition to a clean energy future. The reliability of natural gas enables the quick expansion of low-carbon renewable generation, and by partnering the two together, we can achieve rapid emissions reductions today - without sacrificing reliability and affordability. Academics and researchers agree: with the world's greatest interstate energy highway already in existence, and the ability to transport zero-carbon fuels of the future like green hydrogen, natural gas has the potential to continue to support carbon reduction and help us reach our climate goals faster.
Natural gas -- accelerating our transition to a clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
