With Daniel Lippman BOOM TIMES ON K STREET CONTINUE: Washington’s biggest lobbying firms continued to build upon what were already record revenues during the last quarter, fueled by protracted negotiations on Democrats’ trillion-plus-dollar climate and social spending legislations and attempts to send the bipartisan infrastructure to President Joe Biden’s desk. — PI did some number crunching, and the top 20 biggest earners on K Street saw their revenues go up by an average of around 5 percent since the second quarter of the year, and an average of roughly 20 percent since the third quarter of 2020 (though the quarter right before an election is typically slower, the Covid-19 pandemic kept lots of money flowing to K Street). For the two highest-grossing firms of the third quarter, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, revenues were largely flat between the second and third quarters even though both firms notched their second straight $13 million-plus quarters. — “Washington is operating on all cylinders,” said Marc Lampkin , the managing partner of Brownstein’s Washington office. Lampkin told PI that the high stakes of the Democratic reconciliation bill — for both supporters and opponents — had driven lots of the firm’s business from July through September. Clients who happen to be in the clean energy space, for instance, were eager to reap new opportunities for investment in the bill, he said. On the other hand, large and multinational corporations and small businesses alike “are all gravely concerned about what ends up with the pay-for side.” — Lobbyists expected the current pace of business to continue at least through the end of the year, if not well into 2022, as lawmakers rush to put a bow on the reconciliation and infrastructure bills, fund the government, pass the NDAA and avert a fiscal cliff by the time midterm election season gets into full swing. Then there will likely be the matter of implementing the trillions of dollars Democrats are hoping to spend, meaning lobbying action will move off the Hill and into federal agencies standing up and overseeing new programs. — “We obviously haven't had a period like this since 2009-2010, you know when we had the climate bill and financial services reform and the Recovery Act moving,” said Rich Gold, who leads Holland & Knight ’s public policy and regulation group. “And, you know, I think this period is going to be every bit as big if not bigger.” Holland & Knight saw its lobbying revenues increase by 10 percent since the second quarter — one of several lobbying shops to see lobbying revenue go up by a double digit percentage. Gold said they’re up 45 percent since December 2019. “And we all feel that way,” he noted. — Karishma Page, who co-chairs the public policy practice at K&L Gates, pointed out that in many ways, the pandemic is still driving a great deal of activity on K Street, between supply chain issues, vaccination policy, and addressing the health and economic fallout of the Covid crisis. Revenues at her firm were up 18 percent year-over-year. Lobbyists said that the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large companies has also been fueling business, with companies turning to K Street to better understand the mandate, flag concerns with the order and navigate questions about how to implement it. Happy Friday, welcome to PI, and go Sox. Send K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. |
A FEW MORE FILING DEADLINE TAKEAWAYS: “One of the clear bright spots of the last quarter has also been the gradual ‘reopening’ of Washington,” noted Akin Gump’s Brian Pomper in a statement. “Virtual lobbying, while necessary, was no substitute for meaningful, in-person connection, and no one has been happier than I am to see the resumption of in-person meetings and events on Capitol Hill,” he said. — Lampkin echoed that, telling PI that while his firm was just as busy as last year, it seems “people are managing the workload better.” Most importantly, “people are getting their weekends back,” he said. Still, the past few months have felt like “a marathon at sprinting rates,” Page told PI. And Gold, while saying that he was relieved Holland & Knight’s revenues reflected the pace of business over the last three months, added that, “I think we looked at it from the perspective of this explains why I wake up every morning exhausted.” HEALTH CARE PLAYERS POURED MONEY INTO LOBBYING: “Lobbying from some of the largest players in health care surged during the quarter ending Sept. 30, as the coronavirus and President Joe Biden's sweeping spending package dominated the agenda,” POLITICO’s Megan Wilson reports. “There were 64 health-related trade groups, corporations and nonprofits that spent at least $500,000 on advocacy during the third quarter, disbursing a total of $95.73 million, or 17 percent more than the same period last year, according to a POLITICO analysis of lobbying disclosures that were due midnight Thursday.” — As Democrats pushed for their plan to have Medicare negotiate the cost of high-priced drugs, PhRMA , “which opposed the drug pricing proposal, spent $7.44 million on lobbying during the third quarter, by far the most of any health-related group and a 25 percent increase from the same time last year. Roughly 40 percent of health care entities that spent at least $500,000 this past quarter were pharmaceutical companies or industry groups, according to a POLITICO analysis of the data.” HELL HATH NO FURY: The Covid-19 pandemic thrust the role of caregiving into the national spotlight, with Democrats promising an enormous injection of funding for everything from paid family leave to home care services as they try to overhaul American social policy, your host reports. But as negotiations on the Build Back Better agenda hit the final stretch, many of these investments in the so-called care economy are on the chopping block — testing the clout of a movement that has leaped to the forefront of the political debate. — They don’t control the kind of well-funded lobbying machines of others working to shape the bill. But care activists and advocacy groups — some of which have only formed in the last several years — have become key surrogates for the Biden White House and Democratic leaders in Congress, who have seized on their rhetoric as they push for reforms. — And the pandemic — which saw workers of all genders forced to juggle working from home, caring for children kept out of classrooms and caring for sick loved ones or becoming too sick to work themselves — as well as the female-led backlash to Donald Trump’s administration and the inauguration of the first female vice president have all contributed to what advocates told POLITICO is most fertile environment in recent memory for getting investments in care policies over the finish line. — “This is our moment,” said Ai-jen Poo, the executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and director of Caring Across Generations, both of which are part of the Care Can’t Wait Coalition. “We've been simmering in a care crisis for decades, and we now have an opportunity to avert catastrophe in the future,” she argued, pointing to the benefits for working families and women, particularly women of color. CARGO GIANTS SOUND ALARM ON VAX MANDATE: “A trade group for air cargo giants like UPS and FedEx is sounding the alarm over an impending Dec. 8 vaccine deadline imposed by President Joe Biden, complaining it threatens to wreak havoc at the busiest time of the year — and add yet another kink to the supply chain,” POLITICO’s Natasha Korecki reports. — “‘We have significant concerns with the employer mandates announced on Sept. 9, 2021, and the ability of industry members to implement the required employee vaccinations by Dec. 8, 2021,’ Stephen Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association, wrote in a letter sent to the Biden administration and obtained by POLITICO. The letter, sent to the Office of Management and Budget, asks the administration to postpone the deadline until ‘the first half of 2022.’” MCCARTHY, CHENEY SCHISM SPILLS INTO THE CONSULTING WORLD: “A prominent Washington lobbyist close to Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, is warning Republican political consultants that they must choose between working for Representative Liz Cheney or Mr. McCarthy,” The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin reports. — “Jeff Miller , the lobbyist and a confidant of Mr. McCarthy’s dating to their youthful days in California politics, has conveyed this us-or-her message to Republican strategists in recent weeks, prompting one fund-raising firm to disassociate itself from Ms. Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming. In response, The Morning Group, a fund-raising firm she hired to help prepare for a primary next year against a challenger endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump , informed her last month they could no longer work on her campaign, according to Republicans familiar with the matter.” — “In an interview, Mr. Miller, who became close to Mr. Trump during his administration and raised more than $100 million for his re-election efforts, said Republican consultants were on notice. ‘She’s not just undermining Kevin but the whole G.O.P. conference,’" Miller, whose lobbying clients include companies such as Apple, Amazon, SpaceX and PhRMA, said. “‘You’re either with Kevin, and the conference, or the person undermining them. You can’t serve two masters.’” |
