A4A hires Shuster

From: POLITICO Influence - Tuesday Jul 18,2023 11:14 pm

Jul 18, 2023

Presented by

With help from Josh Gerstein

A4A HIRES SHUSTER: The airline industry’s top trade group has tapped a familiar face to work on lawmakers’ FAA reauthorization package: One of the chief architects of the most recently enacted FAA bill. Former House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Bill Shuster, along with four others at Squire Patton Boggs, have lobbied on the bill on behalf of Airlines for America since last month, according to a newly filed disclosure.

— While a major trade group’s hiring of a powerful former committee chair to lobby on that industry’s marquee policy legislation is always noteworthy, this particular hire is especially notable because of Shuster’s history with A4A, which represents almost every major U.S. air carrier, in addition to FedEx and UPS.

— In 2015, amid negotiations of the most recent FAA bill, Shuster admitted to a romantic relationship with Airlines for America lobbyist Shelley Rubino, who still serves as the trade group’s vice president of global government affairs, according to its website and disclosures filed last week.

— Marli Collier, a spokesperson for the trade group, told PI that “we are proud that A4A hires the most qualified, respected professionals to be part of our first-in-class team—comprised of internal subject matter experts and external consultants who have years of solid experience — to advocate for our members every day.”

— A4A retains six other outside lobbying firms: Forbes Tate Partners, Harbinger Strategies, Roberti Global, B+S Strategies, Crossroads Strategies (where former Sens. Trent Lott and John Breaux work on the account) and solo lobbyist Kevin Curtin. The trade group drops millions of dollars on lobbying each year, with its spending reaching an all-time high of nearly $8.6 million at the height of negotiations over the last FAA bill, which passed in 2018.

— Former House T&I aide Rebekah Sungala, former Karen Bass and Cedric Richmond aide Caren Street and former John Boehner aides Tommy Andrews and Dave Schnittger are also working on the account for Squire Patton Boggs, which disclosures show A4A paid $80,000 for its month of work.

— Airlines for America isn’t the only client for whom Shuster lobbied on the FAA bill last quarter, according to disclosures. The Pennsylvania Republican, whose fierce push while in office to privatize the air traffic control system held up the 2018 bill, also lobbied on this year’s package for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the Philadelphia Department of Aviation.

Happy Tuesday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l:

Lowering the bar on air safety could be a catastrophic mistake. America has the safest skies in the world because we have the toughest safety standards in the world. Yet, Congress is considering eroding those standards by weakening strong pilot training rules and introducing even more risk by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age. Learn more here.

FORMER BROWN CHIEF LOBBIED ON BANKER COMPENSATION BILL: Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown’s (D-Ohio) former chief of staff was among those lobbying on his bank executive clawback bill, Daniel reports.

— Jay Heimbach, who was Brown’s top aide until 2009 and is now a consultant at Tiber Creek Group, lobbied the Senate and House on issues including that clawback bill, the RECOUP Act of 2023, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, which paid the firm $60,000 last quarter, according to disclosures. The Commercial Real Estate Finance Council paid the firm $50,000 to monitor the bill last quarter as well, along with Deutsche Bank, which paid Tiber Creek $60,000 — though Heimbach didn’t work on that account.

— Earlier this year, Brown and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) introduced the RECOUP Act, which would claw back bank executives’ pay when their banks fail. The bill advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee on a bipartisan 21-2 vote in June.

— The bill’s clawback provision is less stringent than in a similar bill introduced in March by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), which has added a number of other bipartisan co-sponsors since then. That bill would require regulators to claw back some or all of the pay that failed bank execs had received in the three years prior to a bank failure, while the Brown and Scott bill makes those clawbacks only an option for regulators and only for two years of earnings.

— The RECOUP Act included other requirements for banks beyond the Warren bill, including stricter penalties on failed bank executives and more authority for regulators to remove and ban them from continuing to work in the financial industry. Brown’s office told PI that Heimbach and Tiber Creek never lobbied Brown or his staff on behalf of any of their clients about the RECOUP Act.

FLYING IN: Franklin Square Group is bringing members of the Internet Works coalition to the Hill this week for a fly-in to discuss Section 230 protections for small and mid-size platforms. Participants will include coalition members Dropbox, eBay, Etsy, Eventbrite, Indeed, Nextdoor, Patreon, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap, TripAdvisor and Yelp.

— The coalition is slated to meet with staff of Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), as well as staff from the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

IF I HAD A LITTLE MONEY: Pras Michel, the former Fugees rapper who was found guilty earlier this year on a smattering of charges including campaign finance violations and acting as an unregistered foreign agent, will be appointed a public defender for the remaining phases of his prosecution, underscoring money problems that tinged prosecutors’ case against him at trial.

— U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted Michel’s request for a public defender in a hearing that took place on Monday, after speaking with the rapper about his intent to drop his current defense team, led by David Kenner. Kollar-Kotelly determined after reviewing his finances that Michel qualifies for a government-funded defense, court filings show. Michel has yet to be sentenced, and could still appeal his conviction.

— According to prosecutors, the rapper’s dire financial straits underpinned his decision to engage with fugitive Malaysian businessman Jho Low in a sprawling influence peddling scheme that began over a decade ago. Michel sold his interest in the rights in his Fugees’ recordings to a private equity group last year in order to raise money. And he sought to fundraise for his defense by offering potential financiers a stake in $75 million the government seized from him — a sum contended he would recover if acquitted, Reuters reported.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO: “Democratic Rep. Rubén Gallego has criticized Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent whom he will potentially challenge next year, over her ties to ‘deep-pocketed lobbyists.’ But the progressive Arizona Democrat has his own financial ties inside the Beltway,” The Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross reports.

— More than a dozen lobbyists from firms like Ogilvy Government Relations, Cornerstone Government Affairs and Thorn Run Partners and the telecom industry wrote Gallego checks for more than $9,000 last quarter, per Ross — a fraction of his $3.1 million total haul. “Gallego’s lobbyist donors represent corporations with significant business before the federal government, including AT&T, Pfizer, Meta, and Wells Fargo.”

— But: “Gallego accepted the lobbyist cash while fighting to make Sinema’s apparent coziness with lobbyists a centerpiece of his campaign. Gallego accused the incumbent earlier this year of choosing ‘to side with the lobbyists and special interests’ over Arizonans. He also took aim at the ‘deep-pocketed lobbyists funding [Sinema’s] campaign.’”

AIRLINES PUSH BACK ON SWIPE FEES BILL: The nation’s largest airlines are lining up in opposition to Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall’s (R-Kan.) push to bring down credit card processing fees, our Eleanor Mueller reports, joining banks and credit card networks in opposition to Durbin and Marshall’s attempt to append the legislation to the annual defense bill.

— “This proposed mandate ... will jeopardize payment security while failing to address the costs, risks and unintended consequences of this proposed policy on popular credit card rewards programs,” American Airlines, Delta, United, Alaska, Southwest, JetBlue and Hawaiian Airlines wrote in a letter their lobbyists are circulating around the Hill.

ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is working with John Tate, the former GOP strategist convicted of crimes stemming from a bribery scheme and later pardoned by Trump, The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger reports.

— “According to new disclosures filed over the weekend, Trump’s political operation has hired John Tate via his company, JFT Consulting, Inc. JFT received about $13,000 for ‘political strategy consulting’ in June—a $2,903 installment on June 6, followed by a flat $10,000 at month’s end.”

— “In 2016, a jury convicted Tate for campaign finance crimes related to a bribery scheme in support of the 2012 presidential campaign of then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Tate, a former top staffer to Paul, had worked the scheme alongside fellow Paul aides Jesse Benton and Dimitri Kesari, both of whom were also found guilty. Trump pardoned Tate and Benton in December 2020, but did not pardon Kesari.”

— Now, it seems “Tate has dipped his toe back in the political arena,” with his firm appearing in four FEC expense reports over the past two years, though June’s payments “were the first the company had received from the Trump campaign.”

— The arrangement — Tate being paid through a connected firm — is not unique for Trump. But it is “notable because Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack has focused on Trump’s practice of shell payments,” Sollenberger points out. “In February, The New York Times reported that Smith’s team subpoenaed a ‘vast array’ of Trump vendors, with questions that indicated they were interested in ‘whether some entities were used to mask who was being paid or if the payments were for genuine services rendered.’”

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Jobs Report

— Colleen Kennedy is now the director of marketing and communication for the National Association of Waterfront Employers. She was most recently manager of policy communications at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and is a Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) alum.

— Alexander Grieve has joined Paradigm as government relations lead. He previously led the crypto practice at Tiger Hill Partners.

— Geralyn Trujillo has joined the American Academy of Actuaries as senior director of public policy. She was most recently director of public policy and regulatory affairs at Aflac.

— Diane Griffin Holland has joined Wiley’s telecom, media and technology practice as a partner. Holland most recently served as deputy bureau chief and special adviser for the Federal Communications Commission.

— Erik Hawkins has been named Meta’s vice president of global partners.

— Erik Hadland is joining the Semiconductor Industry Association as director of technology policy. He previously was a science and technology policy fellow at DOE.

— Sean Higgins is now a senior adviser to Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.). He most recently was an associate vice president at Precision Strategies and is a Biden HHS and campaign alum.

— Christina Polizzi, Saumya Narechania and Gabriella Cascone are joining Climate Power. Polizzi is deputy managing director of communications and previously was communications director for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Narechania is managing director of states and previously was program director for the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition. Cascone is managing director of political and previously was a White House liaison at the EPA and a special assistant to the chief of staff at the Commerce Department.

— Angela Acampora is now an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. She previously was a managing director at Whitmer & Worrall.

— Kevin Smith is joining Humana’s corporate communications team. He previously was chief of staff for former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and is a John Boehner alum.

— Tim Stumhofer is now director of climate risk in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He previously was director of climate alignment at Wells Fargo.

STEP INSIDE THE GOLDEN STATE POLITICAL ARENA: YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST … Add California Playbook to your daily reading to keep up with the latest political news and policy moves from deep inside the power centers at the heart of the world’s fourth largest economy. Authors Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner take you inside the state Capitol and governor's mansion in Sacramento, the mayor’s office and City Council and Los Angeles, and the most influential rooms in Silicon Valley and deliver buzzy scoops and behind-the-scenes details that you simply will not get anywhere else. Subscribe today and stay ahead of the game!

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

AEVEX PAC (PAC)
Committee to Save Our American Republic (Super PAC)
DO Wins PAC (PAC)
KENNEDY24 (Super PAC)

A message from Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l:

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Alignment Government Strategies: City Of Annapolis
Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Timberhp
Atlas Crossing LLC: The Cigna Group And Subsidiaries
Compass Working Capital: Compass Working Capital
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Elanco Animal Health
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Society Of Independent Gasoline Marketers Of America
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: University Of Maine System
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: City Of Whiting, Indiana
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Coolcad Electronics
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Midtown Connector Project Foundation, Inc
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Prologium
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Sunray Scientific
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Vorexusa
Emmer Consulting, Inc. (Formerly Known As Emmer Consulting, P.C.): National Employment Lawyers Association
Ferox Strategies: Avidity Biosciences, Inc.
Friends Of The Earth (Action), Inc.: Friends Of The Earth (Action), Inc.
Hamilton American LLC: Poplicus Incorporated D/B/A Govini
Holland & Knight LLP: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Boston Electrometallurgical Corp.
Holland & Knight LLP: Ultimate Fitness Group LLC D/B/A Orangetheory Fitness
Imec.Ic-Link USa, Inc.: Imec.Ic-Link USa, Inc.
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP: San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP: Santa Clara County, Ca
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP: Town Of Islip
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP: Afida Modernization Committee (Informal Coalition)
London Stock Exchange Group: London Stock Exchange Group
Mason Street Consulting, LLC: Capital Rx Inc.
Mcallister & Quinn, LLC: Fairview Health Services
Mcallister & Quinn, LLC: Financial Planning Association
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Devry University
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Tri-Hishtil, Inc.
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: Stillwater Medical Center
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: United Way Of Tarrant County
Mindset Advocacy, LLC: Solana Foundation
National Community Stabilization Trust: National Community Stabilization Trust
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation
Nvg, LLC: Amnesty International USa
Rising Tide Associates: Belleville Boot
Rising Tide Associates: Beverly Knits
Spinnaker Government Relations Fka C.H. Fisher LLC: Lake Placid Association For Music Drama & Art Inc.
Squire Patton Boggs: Airlines For America
Strategic Marketing Innovations: Emrgy, Inc.
Strategic Marketing Innovations: US Vanadium
The Ferguson Group: Town Of Cheraw, Sc
The Nickles Group, LLC: Nvidia Corporation
The Roosevelt Group: Impossible Objects
Thorn Run Partners: Bdv Solutions
Thorn Run Partners: Fontana Ventures, LLC
Thorn Run Partners: Monument Inc.
Tiber Creek Group: Bloom Energy
Truman Keith Jones: Cornerstone Government Affairs Obo Driscoll’s Inc.
Warwick Group Consultants, LLC: Cape May County
Warwick Group Consultants, LLC: City Of Pacifica
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Dorr LLP: Paxos Trust Company, LLC

New Lobbying Terminations

Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Njoy, LLC.
Apco Worldwide LLC: Kelkoo Holdings Limited (Formerly Known As Kelkoo.Com (Uk) Limited)
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Beam Global
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Brooks Range Corporation
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Cboe Global Markets
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Cengage
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Clean Affordable Reliable Electricity Coalition (Care Coalition)
Bryant Christie Inc.: California Table Grape Commission
Capitol Associates: Confluence Health And Affiliates (Fna) Wenatchee Valley Medical Center
Capitol Counsel LLC: Association Of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
Capitol Counsel LLC: Exxonmobil Corporation
Capitol Counsel LLC: Lgbt Life Center
David Turch & Assoc.: El Dorado County Transportation Commission
David Turch & Assoc.: Riverside Transit Agency
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Dentons US LLP On Behalf Of City Of Long Beach
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Dentons US LLP On Behalf Of Midtown Connector Project
Dykema Gossett Pllc: The Multi-Assistance Center
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Spectrum Health
Gm Strategies: United Brotherhood Of Carpenters & Joiners Of America
Greystone Group LLC: Bismarck State College
Guidepoststrategies, LLC: American Golf Industry (Formerly Known As We Are Golf)
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Association Of Private Non-Profit Institutions LLC
Jenkins Hill Consulting, LLC: K7 Design Group Inc, LLC
Jenkins Hill Consulting, LLC: Real Estate Exchange, Inc.
Kit Bond Strategies: Privacy4Cars
K&L Gates, LLP: Poplicus Incorporated D/B/A Govini
Marcus G. Faust, Pc: Mt. Nebo Water Agency
Mindset Advocacy, LLC: Emerson Electric Co.
O’Neill And Associates: Vermont Institute Of Natural Science
Prasam: Redwire Space
Salemme Strategies: Ctia-Wireless Association
Squire Patton Boggs: Leon County Attorneys Office
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: Meta Platforms, Inc. (Formerly Facebook, Inc. And Various Subsidiaries)
Telemedia Policy Corp.: Rs Access, LLC
The Roosevelt Group: Battle Creek Unlimited (Bcu)
Thorn Run Partners: City Of San Rafael, Ca
Thorn Run Partners: San Bernardino City Unified School District
Todd Strategy Group: Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp
Todd Strategy Group: Blue Note Therapeutics
Todd Strategy Group: Med Claims Compliance Corporation
Townsend Public Affairs: City Of Beaumont
Townsend Public Affairs: City Of Huntington Beach
Townsend Public Affairs: Merced Union High School District
W Strategies, LLC: 23Andme, Inc.

A message from Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l:

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” applies here. Congress should not weaken air safety standards. In the wake of a series of tragic airline accidents, Congress passed the most effective aviation safety law of this century, adopting a comprehensive set of requirements to improve training for pilots that have reduced air fatalities by 99.8%. Now, some in Congress want to weaken those standards and introduce even more risk into the system by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age. Don’t compromise safety, introduce more risk or upend flight operations.