Lamar Smith registers as a foreign agent

From: POLITICO Influence - Monday Apr 04,2022 09:33 pm

Apr 04, 2022

Presented by U.S. Travel Association

With Daniel Lippman

SMITH REGISTERS AS A FOREIGN AGENT: Former Rep. Lamar Smith has registered as a foreign agent for the first time. The Texas Republican joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld shortly after leaving office in 2019 after more than three decades in Congress. He’ll represent the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, which works to promote Hong Kong’s economic interests in the U.S., as well as the governments of Japan and the United Arab Emirates, documents filed with the Justice Department over the weekend show.

— The former House Science chair registered to lobby for domestic clients shortly after leaving Congress in 2019, and lobbying disclosures show that in the final three months of 2021 Smith lobbied on behalf of the city of Laredo, Texas, space imaging company Hawkeye 360, the National Fire Protection Association, the Southwest Research Institute and Garrett Electronics.

— Smith isn’t the only former member of Congress now lobbying on behalf of foreign governments for Akin Gump. Former House Foreign Affairs Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is on the Japan and UAE accounts, as well, and also represents Morocco and the governments of Palau and the Marshall Islands.

HOUSE TO VOTE ON COVID SMALL-BUSINESS PACKAGE: The House is set to vote this week on a package that would offer targeted Covid relief for a collection of industries that were hit hard by the pandemic and whose business models were ill-suited to previous rounds of small-business aid. In a Friday night email laying out this week’s legislative agenda, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced an impending floor vote on the bill, H.R. 3807 (117) , which would provide $42 billion in additional relief for the restaurant industry and $13 billion in relief for other “hard hit” small businesses.

— The bill would be paid for with funding “rescinded, seized, reclaimed, or otherwise returned to the Federal Government” by other coronavirus relief programs — a key barrier to support from Senate Republicans — though it’s not immediately clear whether that would offset the entire cost of the bill, nor is it clear whether the package will win the support of enough Senate Republicans to bypass the filibuster. Roll Call’s Lindsey McPherson has more on the specifics of the bill.

— “With the looming threat of another variant and growing challenges of inflation for both operators and consumers, the economic boost RRF will provide for those 177,000 restaurants would reach far into our communities,” Sean Kennedy, the top lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, said in a letter to congressional leadership this morning, using an abbreviation for the pandemic grant program for restaurants created last year.

— “This should be the driving factor in bipartisan support for replenishing the RRF. These restaurants fighting for survival cannot go it alone any longer, and should not be treated as a spot in the rear-view mirror of Congress,” he added.

— The floor vote for the relief package will come after a bipartisan group of senators struck a deal on a $10 billion Covid aid supplemental to fund therapeutics, testing and vaccine distribution. More than 40 House Democrats warned in a letter last month to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) that they “would be hesitant to support” such a package without small business relief.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Tips: coprysko@politico.com. Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from U.S. Travel Association:

The travel industry was disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Domestic business travel spending remains 56% below 2019 levels and international travel spending remains down 78%. This week at the U.S. travel industry’s annual legislative fly-in, we will call on Congress to help rebuild the workforce, reignite in-person meetings and events, and push to restore international inbound travel. The travel industry is critical to the United States’ global competitiveness. When travel thrives, so does America.

FLYING IN: The National Beer Wholesalers Association this week will hold its first in-person legislative conference since 2019. Members of the trade group will be on the Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday meeting with nearly 300 congressional offices. They’re also set to meet with members of both parties, including Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.).

— Beer wholesalers will promote the so-called three-tier system — in which beer distributors serve as a buffer between brewers and retailers — and discuss workforce retention and recruitment challenges and differentiation between types of alcohol.

MEANWHILE, IN CALIFORNIA: “Big Tech has a Sacramento-sized PR problem: how to convince lawmakers they care about kids’ online safety as they try to fend off or sway strict new rules for their social media platforms,” POLITICO’s Susannah Luthi reports.

— “California legislators over the next month will debate a host of proposals aimed at protecting children from exploitation, addiction and other internet-based risks that trickle into real life. Industry lobbyists are still crafting their strategy, sorting out measures they see as serious from those they suspect are more about political messaging. Tech interests are also gearing up for an all-out war over a bill that touches the industry’s third rail: the threat of private lawsuits against social media apps that allegedly hurt or addict kids.”

— “Sacramento’s headliner proposal on the issue is CA AB2273 (21R) by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton). The measure is modeled after a U.K. law, so major companies have already learned to adjust to the British Parliament’s directive to consider children’s interests by default.”

— “The tech lobby is likely to argue that California tech laws and rules are different enough from the U.K.'s regime that it will be challenging for companies to adopt the child-focused design legislation in the U.S. — and that the bill’s mandate for apps to consider ‘the best interests of children’ leaves too much room for interpretation for companies trying to avoid penalties.”

BIDEN STRATEGISTS LAUNCH NEW FIRM: “Top aides to now-President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and the deep-pocketed outside group backing his agenda are launching a new advertising firm positioned at the power center of Biden-era Democratic politics,” per POLITICO’s Steve Shepard.

— “The new firm is Blue Sky Strategy, which is already working for the Biden-affiliated group Building Back Together and Future Forward, a liberal nonprofit that spent nearly $150 million in the last election. Among its founders are Patrick Bonsignore , who served as the director of paid media for Biden’s successful 2020 campaign, and Jon Fromowitz, the co-founder of Future Forward and an adviser to the Biden campaign. Fromowitz is credited with making the Democrat’s minute-long ad that aired during the 2020 World Series.”

— “Joining Bonsignore and Fromowitz at Blue Sky Strategy are co-founder Ishanee Parikh, the former creative director at Future Forward, and Amy Romanow, the director of stories for Biden’s paid-media campaign, who will be a principal at the new firm.”

DECLAN KELLY’S NEXT MOVE: “Declan Kelly, the top public relations adviser who quit his firm Teneo last year after sexual harassment allegations, has recruited American football star Tom Brady to his comeback venture, according to his new company website,” the Financial Times’ Arash Massoudi and James Fontanella-Khan report.

— “Brady, the National Football League star who recently announced he was retiring from the sport before rescinding that decision, has joined Kelly’s new firm Consello as a partner, according to the site.” Other partners listed on the site include Oscar Salazar, the founding chief technology officer at Uber; Steve Mollenkopf, the former chief executive of Qualcomm; Kelly Kramer the former chief financial officer at Cisco; and Stefan Selig, a former Obama trade official.

— “The disclosures come after the Financial Times revealed in February that Kelly had discreetly launched Consello just months after he was forced to quit Teneo, a PR firm he co-founded with former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band. Kelly’s effort to relaunch his career comes less than 12 months after the FT first reported allegations that the 54-year-old had inappropriately touched women while drunk at a May 2021 fundraiser for charity Global Citizen, which led him to quit his board seat at the charity and resign from Teneo.”

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Jobs Report

— Justin Goldberger has joined the Retail Industry Leaders Association as its new vice president of technology. He most recently was a senior policy adviser to Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), handling the congressman’s technology and telecommunications work on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

— The Alpine Group has promoted Cornell Teague to principal. He was previously a vice president at the firm, and is a House Appropriations alum.

— Annemarie Pender has joined the National Pork Producers Council as assistant vice president for marketing and communications, and Chase Adams has joined as manager of congressional relations. Pender was most recently vice president of communications for Autos Drive America, and Adams was previously senior policy and information director for the American Sheep Industry Association and is a National Cattlemen’s Beef Association alum.

— Jennifer Dunn has been appointed executive vice president and head of U.S. corporate affairs at Hill+Knowlton Strategies , leading the firm’s D.C. operations. She most recently was senior vice president for corporate comms and public affairs at Wells Fargo.

— Scott Sudduth and Bill Bates have launched a new government affairs firm, Washington Navigators. Sudduth most recently was associate vice chancellor for federal programs at Texas A&M, and Bates most recently was executive vice president of the Council on Competitiveness.

— Gina Gombar has joined the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives as vice president of government affairs and associate general counsel. She most recently was at LPL Financial, where she served as vice president and associate general counsel in the compliance, legal and risk department.

— Adam Rice is joining FTI Consulting as a managing director in the financial services public affairs practice, per Morning Money. He was previously senior vice president and head of public affairs at the American Securities Association and is a veteran of the House Financial Services Committee.

— Robyn Luhning has been named Wells Fargo’s first chief sustainability officer, overseeing the Wells Fargo Institute for Sustainable Finance. She was previously interim head of social impact and sustainability at the bank.

— Brunswick Group has added Terence Burke as partner and global head of strategic messaging and firm events, based in the New York office. He most recently served as senior vice president of live content and head of global programming at Fortune Media and is a CNN alum.

— Paul S. Ryan is now deputy executive director of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. He previously was vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause.

— Josie Gibbens will be a trade and political compliance manager at PwC . She previously was a senior public policy specialist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

— Robert Winkler has joined Kratos as vice president for corporate development and national security programs. He was previously a staffer on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A message from U.S. Travel Association:

New Joint Fundraisers

Team Monica Victory (MONICA FOR CONGRESS, KEEP TEXAS TEXAS PAC, NRCC)

New PACs

Californians United (Hybrid PAC)
KEEP FLORIDA RED PAC (Super PAC)
Missouri Conservative Political Action Committee (Super PAC)
Montanans for a Better Congress (Super PAC)
NC Senate GOP Fund (PAC)
Our Fight Our Future (Leadership PAC: Greg Casar)
Preserve Our Rights PAC (Super PAC)
The Sentinel Action Fund (Super PAC)
STEPHEN LEON FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (draft committee) (Super PAC)

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New Lobbying Registrations

Blue Star Strategies LLC: Rode Un Partneri Ps
Cogent Strategies LLC: Leapyear Technologies, Inc.
Cypress Advocacy, LLC: Courier Plus, Inc. Dba Dutchie
Desimone Consulting, LLC: Lifelong
Desimone Consulting, LLC: Port Of Bremerton
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Empower Pharmacy
First Principles Strategies, LLC: National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel
Hogan Lovells US LLP: American Cleaning Institute
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Grifols Shared Services North America, Inc.
Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Genus Medical Technologies
Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Medical Device Manufacturers Association
Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Tek84
Joe Moore Strategies, LLC: Ampera Life, Inc.
Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC: Venturewell
Point32Health Services Inc.: Point32Health Services Inc.
Putalastrategies: Partner Therapeutics
Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Scallopers Campaign
Zscaler, Inc. And Affiliates: Zscaler, Inc. And Affiliates

New Lobbying Terminations

Focus Dc LLC: Appharvest, Inc.
Goldhaber Policy Services LLC: Ranieri Partners Management LLC
J.Sullivan Advocacy: Ellwood Group
Ten Government Strategies, LLC: Lincoln Educational Services Corporation
Ten Government Strategies, LLC: National Recoveries, Inc.

A message from U.S. Travel Association:

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of all jobs still lost due to the pandemic are in the Leisure & Hospitality sector. It is imperative that Congress does all it can to help rebuild the travel workforce.

This week at Destination Capitol Hill, the U.S. travel industry’s annual legislative fly-in, we will call on Congress to prioritize creative solutions to help rebuild our workforce, reignite in-person meetings and events and restore international inbound travel. Travel is critical to restoring the United States’ global competitiveness and the American economy. When travel thrives, so does America.