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Presented by Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future | With Daniel Lippman NEW BUSINESS: Popular home-sharing platform Airbnb is expanding its bench of outside lobbying firms. Newly filed lobbying disclosures show the company hired a team of more than half a dozen lobbyists at Porterfield, Fettig & Sears at the beginning of January to lobby on “housing finance” issues. It’s the first time the company has reported lobbying on housing issues since 2020, according to disclosures. Porterfield is just the third outside lobbying currently on retainer for Airbnb, which spent more than $600,000 on lobbying last year. The company also retains Fulcrum Public Affairs and Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid. — Oil giant BP, which has a comparatively longer roster of outside firms on retainer, also added new outside help at the beginning of the year. BP hired a trio of Republican lobbyists from the Washington Tax & Public Policy Group, including a former aide to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), to lobby on international trade issues. BP also retains Subject Matter, Jim Massie & Partners, Covington & Burling, TheGROUP, M.J. Bradley & Associates, Arnold & Porter, Randall Davis Associates and The Duberstein Group. REED AIDE HEADS TO K STREET: Penn Hill Group, a lobbying firm and consultancy that specializes in education and workforce issues, has added Elyse Wasch as a vice president and Rachel Dinkes as a senior adviser. Wasch has spent nearly three decades as a Hill staffer, most recently spending 17 years as legislative director and deputy chief of staff to Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), where she recently helped secure funding for education, libraries and workforce-related programs in the CARES Act. — Dinkes also serves as president of Knowledge Alliance, and previously was a principal researcher at the American Institutes for Research supporting research projects for the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics. Both plan on registering to lobby. Happy Friday and welcome to PI. A reminder that we’ll be off Monday for the holiday, but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. In the meantime, send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future: Natural gas is accelerating our transition to a clean energy future. The pairing of natural gas with renewable sources has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. When available, renewables like solar and wind, eliminate emissions. When these sources are not available, natural gas fills gaps, ensuring affordability and reliability for all Americans while further lowering emissions. Natural gas is accelerating America’s clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org | | | FLYING IN (VIRTUALLY): Advocates from the Spina Bifida Association are hitting the Hill virtually on March 1 to push for increased funding for CDC’s National Spina Bifida Program. More than 100 members are set to meet with the offices of nearly 100 members of Congress in both the House and Senate, to push for the increased funding as well as a bill that would allow people with disabilities to work without causing them to lose out on higher Social Security benefits. COLD WATER: “A restaurant industry still reeling from Covid is begging Congress for another bailout. But officials are starting to concede that it’s probably too late,” POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris and Nick Wu report. — “The White House and congressional leaders are right now drafting what could be the last parcel of federal pandemic aid, eyeing more than $30 billion for the public health response to the Covid crisis. Many lawmakers, backed by a powerful restaurant lobby, want the package to also include cash for the virus’ economic victims too, specifically those in some of the hardest-hit sectors.” — “But they’re running into political headwinds, including from inside the White House. … While President Joe Biden and his team are unlikely to object if lawmakers can reach a deal, and acknowledge restaurants face a more complicated recovery than other parts of the economy, the warnings of lost jobs, rising rents and inflated food prices have yet to convince administration officials that the solution is more direct funding.” — “Some senior aides have questioned whether the situation facing restaurants is truly as dire as industry groups have portrayed, the people familiar with the matter said. A White House official said that while the administration is ‘sympathetic’ to smaller restaurants’ difficulties, it ‘finds it hard to commit large new pots of funds without understanding more how it will interact with other priorities’ like child care and climate. And meetings between Biden economic advisers and restaurant groups have left some participants convinced that the White House had already made up its mind." — “‘We, at this point, do not see a package coming from the White House that includes small business relief that would benefit industries like the restaurants,’ said Sean Kennedy, the senior vice president for public affairs at the National Restaurant Association.” FIREHOUSE ADDS 2 MORE OFFICES: The public affairs firm Firehouse Strategies is expanding up and down the East Coast, opening new offices in New York City and Orlando. “We have clients in both states or we have clients with interests in both states," founding partner Alex Conant told PR Week."From a political perspective, Florida is increasingly important in Republican politics and New York is where we see a lot of Democratic leaders, so politically they're two of the most important states in the country." The Orlando office will be helmed by Todd Reid, who joins other fellow Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) alums at the firm after serving as deputy chief of staff to the senator.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | WHAT WIRELESS GROUPS LOBBIED FOR IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BILL: “Lawmakers trying to advance a bill to help domestic abuse survivors believe it’s been stymied by the wireless industry because of concerns it will cost them customers,” Axios’ Ashley Gold and Margaret Harding McGill report. — A bipartisan deal to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act does not include the Safe Connections Act, “a bipartisan bill introduced in 2021 which would allow survivors of domestic abuse to separate their phone line from a family cellular plan and provide privacy protections for victims ... despite efforts from its sponsors to attach it. Safe Connections wasn't included in the package, per a Hill source, because wireless industry trade group CTIA made clear it still wanted certain changes. ‘CTIA may claim they support the bill, but they are the ones blocking it,’ the Hill source said.” — “CTIA, whose members include AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, says it supports the bill and argues its changes would make it easier for survivors to change phone plans. It has lobbied to strike a provision giving the FCC authority to hold companies liable for breaking rules set out in the bill; and wants to add a requirement that victims provide ‘account establishment information’ to separate phone lines, per a version of the bill seen by Axios.” — “‘Wireless providers are committed to ensuring survivors of domestic abuse receive the support they need and offer options to transition to new plans,’ a CTIA spokesperson said in a statement,” and the trade group said “a domestic abuse survivor would only have to provide such ‘account establishment information’ if the person was opting to keep their number and service with the same provider. The changes from CTIA are viewed as a way for the wireless industry to retain the customer rather than letting them go, and could create an additional hurdle for a survivor, another Hill source told Axios.” THE NEW ANTI-ANTITRUST ARGUMENT HELPING SILICON VALLEY: “Legislation targeting Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple would hurt Hispanic business owners. An overhaul of antitrust laws would harm Black-owned newspapers. A bill targeting online sales of counterfeit goods would hurt people of color in the same way as voter ID laws. These are some of the arguments that lawmakers considering tougher regulations on the tech industry are hearing from groups representing Black and Hispanic businesses — including several groups with financial backing from the nation’s wealthiest online companies,” POLITICO’s Emily Birnbaum reports. — “At least six such groups advancing these arguments receive funding from or have close partnerships with Google, Amazon and Facebook’s parent company Meta, according to public financial disclosures. The tech companies, along with trade associations they belong to, are amplifying those messages as they seek to combat bipartisan regulatory proposals in both houses of Congress.” — “The tech companies are participating in a lobbying tradition: Large corporations have long donated to so-called affinity organizations that later take the companies' side in Congress. The online giants have similarly recruited their vendors and customers to warn lawmakers that the antitrust changes would harm small businesses. A message grounded in social justice is especially relevant for the Biden era, given the priority that Democrats have placed on addressing racial and ethnic discrimination.”
| | | | A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future:   | | | | | | — ClearPath has added Jane Reynolds as a communications associate on the external affairs team. She was most recently at Bracewell Policy Resolution Group. — Morten Skroejer is the new senior director for technology competition policy at The Software & Information Industry Association, per Morning Tech. — Erica Sackin is now leading communications at Meta around counterterrorism and dangerous organizations and individuals. She previously was senior director of communications at Planned Parenthood.
| | | Serve America Victory Fund (Serve America PAC, Reps. Colin Allred, Jake Auchincloss, Cindy Axne, Jason Crow, Antonio Delgado, Jared Golden, Jahana Hayes, Chrissy Houlahan, Kai Kahele, Mark Kelly, Andy Kim, Susie Lee, Elaine Luria, Tom Malinowski, Seth Moulton, Joe Neguse, Mikie Sherrill, Elissa Slotkin, Abigail Spanberger, Lauren Underwood)
| | | Workiva Inc. Data Fund (PAC)
| | | | DON’T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | New Lobbying Registrations | | American Capitol Group: Bell Legal Group
American Capitol Group: Institute For Advanced Clinical Trials For Children
Atlantic Strategies Group LLC: Mystery Ranch
Bluebird Strategies: The Peggy Lillis Foundation
Bridge Public Affairs, LLC: Bluecross Blueshield Of Tennessee, Inc.
Capitol Counsel LLC: Zai Lab (US) LLC
Dla Piper LLP (US): Sab Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Harbinger Strategies, LLC: Id.Me, Inc.
Harbinger Strategies, LLC: Securities Industry And Financial Markets Association (Sifma)
Holland & Knight LLP: Parsons Corporation
Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.: Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.
King & Spalding LLP: Swyft, Inc.
Manning Fulton & Skinner, P.A.: Rti International
Ogilvy Government Relations: Genentech Inc
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Tickpick, LLC
Subject Matter (Fka Elmendorf Ryan): Technology Network Aka Technet
The Ferguson Group: Aids Healthcare Foundation
The Ferguson Group: Truckee Carlson Irrigation District
W Strategies, LLC: Delfi Diagnostics
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | American Auto Dealers For Pension Reform: American Auto Dealers For Pension Reform
Ct Group Fka Ctf Global LLC: Paratek
Larry Puccio, LLC: Humanity Forward
Mr. Robert Talley: Tristate G&T
| | | | A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future: Across the country and across our economy, America is building a vital and exciting clean energy future. Natural gas is accelerating this transition and can help us rapidly achieve our climate goals. By partnering with renewable energy sources, natural gas has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. On its own, natural gas emits 50% less carbon compared to coal, making it a lower-carbon alternative that fills gaps and prevents disruptions whenever sources like solar and wind are unavailable. Existing interstate pipelines for natural gas also offer versatility for transporting hydrogen, renewable natural gas and other zero-carbon fuels of the future. Investing in natural gas infrastructure equips us for continued innovation while ensuring an affordable, reliable transition for all Americans. Natural gas is accelerating our clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
