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Presented by Brilliant: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Brilliant | With Daniel Lippman WHAT NONPROFITS WANT IN THE RELIEF BILL: As the Senate prepares for days of grueling debate on the White House’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, the nonprofit industry is among the sectors still lobbying for assistance. As of Tuesday, more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations have signed on to a January letter to congressional leaders laying out the sector’s asks. — “When a nonprofit job is lost, it hurts not only the individual employee and their family in the organization, but hurts the community in that services are not being provided,” Tim Delaney, chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits , told PI, pointing to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Johns Hopkins University measuring the number of nonprofit jobs lost since the pandemic at nearly 1 million. — Delaney applauded House lawmakers for making changes to a 500-employee cap on loans under the Paycheck Protection Program that would allow nonprofits with that many workers spread across multiple locations to apply for the loans, and said the sector is looking to protect that change in the Senate version of the bill. But the council is pressing lawmakers to extend the expiration of new lending past its current March 31 deadline, a request that’s been echoed by a range of groups from the U.S. Travel Association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the lenders providing loans , due to persisting issues with accessing the program. — Nonprofits also continue to push for the Senate to increase to 100 percent coverage of unemployment benefits charged by states to self-insuring nonprofits, which the House bill hikes to 75 percent from 50 percent. The sector is also urging Congress to repeal a condition for charitable nonprofits that their revenue must have dropped by 25 percent in order to be eligible for a second draw of PPP, with Delaney noting that while a nonprofit’s revenues might have remained somewhat steady over the past year, costs have soared. FIRST IN PI — HILL HEALTH CARE AIDE LAUNCHING OWN SHOP: Adam Buckalew, a Hill veteran and former lobbyist for the American Osteopathic Association, is launching his own strategic advising firm, alb solutions. Buckalew most recently served under Senate HELP Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) as deputy health policy director for the panel, helping craft December’s deal to end so-called surprise medical bills as well as last year’s CARES Act. Prior to that, he was coalitions director and deputy chief health counsel for then-House Energy and Commerce Chair Greg Walden (R-Ore.). — Buckalew told PI the retirement of both of his two previous bosses prompted his return to the private sector (though one will soon become his competition on K Street). The firm’s primary focus will be on health care, but Buckalew plans to advise on clients’ interests “spanning the entire jurisdictions of the HELP and Energy and Commerce committees — ranging from employers and manufacturers, to telecommunications innovators and energy providers.” Good afternoon and welcome to PI, where I say that life is short — eat the late-night cheese and chocolate, BoJo. Got K Street tips? My inbox is open: coprysko@politico.com. As are my DMs: @caitlinoprysko. | | | | DON'T MISS "THE RECAST": Power dynamics are changing. "Influence" is changing. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. "The Recast" is our new, twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy, and power in America. 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Learn More | | | HOUSE-PASSED ETHICS BILL TO HIT WALL IN THE SENATE: House Democrats on Wednesday passed a sweeping package of election and government reforms that includes clamping down on so-called shadow lobbying, codifying revolving door restrictions on political appointees, and imposing ethics rules on presidents, vice presidents and Supreme Court justices. — But “even as Democrats control all of Washington for the first time in a decade, a series of priorities that are hugely important to their liberal base — and to making good on President Joe Biden’s campaign promises — have begun piling up in the Senate,” POLITICO’s Marianne Levine, Sarah Ferris and Maya King report. — The ethics bill, H.R. 1, has been the subject of conservative ire over provisions that would allow for public financing for campaigns. Liz Hempowicz, director of public policy at the Project On Government Oversight, conceded that the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and criticism on the bill from the right — ranging from Republican attorneys general to GOP outside groups to the Chamber of Commerce — put a “big question mark” over its fate. — Hempowicz dismissed the attacks as bad-faith arguments, pointing to Republicans’ repeated dismissals of Trump administration officials who were found to have violated the Hatch Act, “which is literally the spending of taxpayer dollars on partisan electoral activities.” She also argued that the bill’s provisions on ethics and lobbying are policies that have “broad bipartisan support, if not in the Congress, by the electorate.” — “We'll have to look for every possible avenue to get it done,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in January after introducing the Senate companion bill, when asked whether it could survive a filibuster. FORMER SURGEON GENERAL JOINS EHEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams “will be part of a new public policy advisory committee formed by private health insurance exchange eHealth Inc.,” Morning Pulse reports. “The bipartisan panel will focus on developing policy ideas for improving public and private-sector health care, and be chaired by former Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky, a Democrat. — “In addition to Adams and Beshear, the committee includes former Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal; Susan Kennedy, the former chief of staff to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; former New York City health commissioner Woody Myers; and eHealth Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations John Desser.” VALERO TO DETAIL CLIMATE LOBBYING: “Valero Energy Corp., one of the largest U.S. oil refiners, is planning to publish details of its climate lobbying activities after an investor pressed the company for more disclosure,” Bloomberg’s Gerson Freitas Jr. and Saijel Kishan report, with the disclosure coming later this year. It follows “discussions with Mercy Investment Services Inc. , which had filed a proposed shareholder resolution demanding to know how Valero’s lobbying aligns with global efforts to fight climate change” and which has now been withdrawn. “It’s one of the first times a U.S. energy company has backed down and agreed to improve transparency over lobbying and the environment. Multiple industries are facing similar pressure to disclose how their political activities align with the 2015 Paris climate accord.” | | | | A message from Brilliant:   | | | | | | — Melanie Steele has joined Coefficient as vice president and Jennifer Chen has joined as senior policy counsel. Steele was most recently associate director for natural resources at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Chen was most previously head of federal energy policy work at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. — The American Hotel & Lodging Association has named Chirag Shah as senior vice president of federal affairs and Sharon Sykes as director of state and local government affairs for the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Shah was previously vice president of government affairs and counsel at the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. Sykes joins AHLA from the National Federation of Independent Business. — CGCN Group has hired Tim Pataki as a partner. He most recently served as assistant to former President Donald Trump and director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, and is a Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor alum. Tim Killeen and Alex Renjel have been promoted to partners. — Nick Uehlecke has joined the Todd Strategy Group as a principal. He was most recently senior adviser to then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Maris Paden has joined as an associate. She most recently served as a special assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at HHS. — Kent Walker, senior vice president for global affairs and chief legal officer at Google, has joined TechNet’s executive council. The group has also added Salesforce as a member. — Former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Randy Evans has joined Squire Patton Boggs in the global litigation practice. — Eric Feldman will join Airbnb as head of federal and international affairs. He most recently was chief of staff for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). — Xochitl Hinojosa is joining Bully Pulpit Interactive as a managing director. She most recently was communications director and senior adviser at the DNC. — Scott Price is joining World Food Program USA’s board of directors. He is currently president of UPS International. — Michael Neuwirth will be chief communications officer at the American Sustainable Business Council. He will continue to serve noncompetitive clients through his consultancy Neuwirth Communications, and he was previously senior director of external communications at Danone. — Mia Heck is now vice president of external affairs and a fellow for health care policy at the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy. She previously was director of external affairs for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, Playbook reports. — Christina Carrica Haley has joined Varian as the vice president of government affairs for the Americas. Before joining Varian, she served as senior policy adviser in the public law and policy group at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. | | | Cawthorn Triumph Committee (Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), NRCC, Making a Difference In Service To Our Nation)
VoteVets 2022 Victory Fund (VoteVets, Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Anthony Brown (D-Md.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.)) | | | America First Future (Super PAC)
Conservative Action Force (Super PAC)
Founding Fathers Fund (PAC)
Make America Great Again Action Inc (Super PAC) | | New Lobbying Registrations | | Alva Elliott Partners, LLC: Tower 19 On Behalf Of Oak View Group, LLC
American Defense International, Inc.: Mp Materials
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Alaska - Alberta Railway Development Corporation
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Open Philanthropy Action Fund
Association Of Organ Procurement Organizations: Association Of Organ Procurement Organizations
Brown & Weinraub, Pllc: Town Of Clarkstown
Brown & Weinraub, Pllc: Waterfront Commission Of New York Harbor
Cashman Dredging And Marine Contracting Co., LLC: Cashman Dredging And Marine Contracting Co., LLC
Congressional Solutions, Inc (Csi): Northeastern University
Goodrx, Inc.: Goodrx, Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: Management & Training Corporation
Jones Walker, LLP: Enlink Midstream
Jones Walker, LLP: Walter Oil And Gas
Lawrence James Group Professionals LLC: Rajant Corporation
Squire Patton Boggs: Calvary Hospital
The Normandy Group, LLC: American Mosquito Control Association
Thorn Run Partners: Kia Motors Corporation
Thorn Run Partners: National Association For The Employment Of People Who Are Blind (NAEPB)
Thorn Run Partners: Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA)
Thorn Run Partners: Tersera Therapeutics
Thorn Run Partners: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Thorn Run Partners: Tripadvisor LLC | | New Lobbying Terminations | | American Defense International, Inc.: Meggitt USa, Inc.
California Strategies & Advocacy, LLC: Chambers Conlon & Hartwell LLC On Behalf Of Their Client Aslrra
Venn Strategies, LLC: Appvion
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