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Presented by REAL SOLUTIONS®, a community safety program of the firearm industry.: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by REAL SOLUTIONS®, a community safety program of the firearm industry. | With Daniel Lippman NEW COALITION AIMS TO DRIVE DIVERSITY ON K STREET: A group of government relations veterans is partnering up to pressure K Street and beyond to ensure that those helping shape federal and local policy better represent the diversity of the country as a whole and the constituents of politicians they’re lobbying. — The group, called the Diversity in Government Relations Coalition, will be led by The Almond Group’s Monica Almond and Cicely Tomlinson, Republican Women for Progress’ Kodiak Hill-Davis, the Hispanic Lobbyists Association’s Liz Lopez, National Journal’s Kevin Turpin, the Congressional Management Foundation’s Jaime Werner, and FiscalNote’s Gerald Yao, and its first order of business will be to conduct a demographic survey of the downtown world, from lobbying firms to trade groups to think tanks. — The aim is to establish baseline data on the demographic makeup of the influence world similar to surveys being carried out on Capitol Hill to measure the diversity of Hill staffers, before using the data to make the case that K Street is not representative enough, Almond told PI in an interview. She added that the Biden administration’s focus on diversity within its own ranks will bolster the coalition’s goals. — “The administration is going to be coming for you, you know, like, you want them to take you seriously, if you want to sit at the table, then you're going to have to send diverse representatives to that table,” she said of the message she’s brought to others in the lobbying community, pointing to unnamed members of the Congressional Black Caucus who’ve warned lobbyists not to come to their office with lobbyists that don’t reflect their districts. — The coalition will work to release its first report on K Street’s diversity by the end of the year. After that, it will aim to be a “central” organization for the government affairs community that brings together the work of other minority lobbying groups like the Washington Government Relations Group, the Hispanic Lobbyists Association, H Street and Q Street and serves as a “repository of best practices — like how should the government affairs community be driving diversity, equity and inclusion, not only internally within their organizations, but also externally in their policymaking,” Almond said. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send your lobbying tips and your biggest Oscars snubs (and movie recs — your host has been more terrible at keeping up than usual this year): coprysko@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. | | | | A message from REAL SOLUTIONS®, a community safety program of the firearm industry. The firearm industry is creating safer communities through partnerships with law enforcement, elected officials, and community leaders. Our REAL SOLUTIONS® programs have distributed more than 40 million free gun locks to promote secure storage, strengthened the FBI background check system to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and provided thousands of suicide prevention toolkits in partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. These are true gun safety programs. Make a difference at NSSFRealSolutions.org. | | | FIRST IN PI — TRADE GROUPS TO PRESS LAWMAKERS ON PPP EXTENSION: The House this week is set to pass a bipartisan deal that would extend the deadline for businesses to apply for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, but a coalition of nearly 100 trade associations and business groups groups led by the International Franchise Association is keeping up the pressure on lawmakers to approve the extension. — The groups will send a letter to the top Democrats and Republicans on House and Senate small business panels today reiterating their support for the deal, which would extend the deadline to apply for PPP loans until May 31. — “Our members are highly concerned by the lack of progress on major Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) processing issues” and technical glitches with the program that could delay applications, the letter, addressed to Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.), reads. — The signatories, which include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NFIB, American Bankers Association, American Hotel & Lodging Association, U.S. Travel Association and the Consumer Bankers Association, emphasize “continued liquidity challenges of the small business sector” due to the pandemic. WARREN-ITES RISING IN BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: “Wall Street was relieved when Sen. Elizabeth Warren was passed over for the leadership of the Treasury Department. But now the financial industry faces another threat: President Joe Biden is enlisting a small army of her former aides and allies to run his government,” POLITICO’s Zach Warmbrodt reports. — The Massachusetts Democrat’s “expanding network in the upper echelons of the administration includes protégés who helped execute her aggressive oversight of big banks and other corporations as well as friends who share her views of the risks looming on Wall Street. But it goes beyond finance, covering pivotal posts at the Department of Education and even the National Security Council.” | | | | TUNE IN TO GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe and start listening today. | | | | | GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES HOME IN ON THE SENATE: “Gun control groups are now focusing all of their lobbying efforts on the Senate following House passage of two major bills last week that garnered some GOP support,” The Hill’s Alex Gangitano reports. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to bring the bills to the floor, “advocates face a familiar uphill battle in trying to win over enough Republicans.” — “Still, proponents are optimistic that a Democratic-led Senate, combined with an ally in the Oval Office and a weakened National Rifle Association (NRA), will help get gun control legislation passed for the first time in decades. ‘We have a slim gun violence prevention majority, but we have the majority, which we know includes eight Republicans,’ said Brian Lemek, executive director of Brady PAC.” ANNALS OF SCAM PACS: “President Donald Trump is out of office, but the scammers that used his name to raise money aren’t stopping,” our Theodoric Meyer reports, with robocalls from generically named political groups in recent weeks “asking for cash in order to help in very Trump-specific missions. A donation of $100, for example, would help return Trump to Twitter. Or, for a similar amount, a potential donor can ‘stop Kamala Harris and socialism,’ the calls claim. Other calls ask for money to ensure that congressional Democrats don’t dismantle the wall Trump started building along the U.S.-Mexico border.” — “One of the telemarketers behind the calls, who spoke to a POLITICO reporter on Wednesday, promised that ‘100 percent of the contributions go directly to President Trump.’ But the calls aren’t being made by” the former president’s new leadership PAC. “In fact, it’s not entirely clear who’s behind them. The telemarketers on the line said they were volunteers working for the Campaign to Support Republican Leaders, which is not registered with the Federal Election Commission and doesn’t have any online presence.” | | | | GET DAILY REGULATORY UPDATES STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX: AgencyIQ’s daily newsletter, FDA Today, provides actionable and insightful explanations of the latest FDA developments impacting the life sciences industry. Sign up for free today. | | | | | | | | — Mark Green starts today as president, director and CEO of the Wilson Center. He was previously executive director at the McCain Institute and before that served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. — Deborah Birx will be chief medical and scientific adviser for ActivePure Technology, an air filtration company focused on reducing Covid-19 infections, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn and David Lim report in Morning Pulse. She was previously the White House coronavirus response coordinator. — Digital firm Authentic has promoted Gabrielle Rizza to chief of staff. She previously was director of client services. Sierra Wells will serve as the firm's new vice president of fundraising and mobilization. She previously was an associate director. — Priscilla Magee is joining National Elevator Industry, Inc. as director of government affairs. She previously worked on consumer and government engagement at the American National Standards Institute. — Rebecca Brown has joined the Bracewell Policy Resolution Group’s strategic communications team as a principal. Brown was previously deputy director of communications at the Energy Department. — Tim Paynter is now vice president for external communications at BAE Systems, per Playbook. He previously was vice president of strategic communications at Northrop Grumman. — Stephen Billy has been hired as executive director of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List. He held several roles in the Trump administration, including as senior adviser at OMB and deputy chief at OPM. — Rebecca Heilig has joined the Federation of American Hospitals as vice president of legislation, Morning Pulse reports. She was previously associate director of business outreach for the White House Office of Public Liaison. | | | | A message from REAL SOLUTIONS®, a community safety program of the firearm industry.   | | | | | | Majority Keepers (Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-Ma.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.)) | | | Elect Grassroots PAC (Hybrid PAC)
Fannie Lou Hamer PAC (PAC)
Hold The Line (Super PAC)
Pac for America (Leadership PAC: Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho))
PAC for America 2 (Leadership PAC: Risch)
Patriot American Council (Hybrid PAC)
VIBRANT TOGETHER (PAC) | | New Lobbying Registrations | | Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz /The Daschle Group: Ballad Health
Blue Mountain Strategies: Tusk Philanthropies
Blue Star Strategies LLC: Sikhs For Justice
Conaway Graves Group, LLC: American Association Of Crop Insurers (Aaci)
Conaway Graves Group, LLC: The Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson's Research
Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, LLP: National Infrastructure Safety Foundation
Forbes-Tate: U.S. Beet Sugar Association (USBSA)
Invariant LLC: Etsy, Inc.
Knight Capitol Consultants: Perspectum
Lanzajet Inc. (Formerly Filed As Lanzajet): Lanzajet Inc.
Lanzajet Inc. (Formerly Filed As Lanzajet): Lanzajet Inc. (Formerly Filed As Lanzajet)
Monument Advocacy: Syndio Solutions, Inc.
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP: Rplus Energies
Nvg, LLC: Owens & Minor, Inc.
Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC: Dechert LLP
Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC: Managed Funds Association
Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC: National Retirement Fund
The Mcdonnell Group LLC: S23 Holdings, LLC
Troutman Pepper Strategies (Fka Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group, LLC): Randstad North America
Venable LLP: Navigators Global LLC On Behalf Of Managed Health Care Associates, Inc.
Von Batten-Montague-York: Tigray Center For Information And Communication
Williams And Jensen, Pllc: National Retirement Fund | | New Lobbying Terminations | | Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP: Inspirato LLC
Corus Federal Strategies: Deep Springs Technology, LLC | | | | A message from REAL SOLUTIONS®, a community safety program of the firearm industry. Partnerships with over 15,000 law enforcement agencies. Distribution of more than 40 million free firearm safety kits. A 266% increase in disqualifying records submitted to the FBI background check system. These are just a few of the success metrics behind the firearm industry’s REAL SOLUTIONS® programs. For decades, the firearm industry has been creating safer communities through partnerships with law enforcement, elected officials, and community leaders. We’re proud to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and members of Congress, regardless of political stripe to create safer communities. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: to keep guns out of the wrong hands. The proven-effective REAL SOLUTIONS® programs promote true gun safety that everyone should be able to rally behind and support. Let’s work together at NSSFRealSolutions.org. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
