Johnson & Johnson spinoff adds first lobbyists

From: POLITICO Influence - Monday Aug 14,2023 09:37 pm
Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street.
Aug 14, 2023 View in browser
 
POLITICO Influence newsletter logo

By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman

J&J CONSUMER HEALTH SPINOFF HIRES FIRST LOBBYISTS: Kenvue, the consumer health brand spun off from health conglomerate Johnson & Johnson earlier this year, has retained the Washington Tax & Public Policy Group, the first federal lobbyists for the company under its new name.

Greg Nickerson, a former tax counsel on the House Ways & Means Committee, former Dan Coats staffer Zach Price and former Roy Blunt aide Brian Diffell will lobby on (what else?) corporate and international tax issues for the company, whose brands include Tylenol, Aveeno, Johnson’s, Band-Aid and Listerine. Nickerson, Price and Diffell are familiar names for the company, having lobbied for Johnson & Johnson (in at least Nickerson’s case) since 2005.

— Johnson & Johnson announced plans to spin its consumer health business off in 2021 to allow the company to focus on its pharmaceutical and medtech business lines. While Kenvue had its initial public offering in May, Johnson & Johnson is still in the process of offloading its majority stake in the new company.

HERITAGE PUSHES BACK: In Friday’s newsletter, we reported that the Emirati state-run renewable energy company Masdar had brought on a new PR firm, First International Resources, to help the oil state boost its environmental reputation ahead of a round of UAE-hosted United Nations climate talks in November.

— As part of that work, according to a copy of the contract filed with the Justice Department, the firm said it aimed to “work with international organizations and select think tanks to further spread favorable perceptions of COP28 among elite foreign policy audiences,” asserting such alliances would be a “critical aspect” of the campaign.

— The filing goes on to name several examples of groups that it notes “play a large role in shaping public attitudes and government policies toward specific issues,” including the World Economic Forum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation.

— But one of those organizations is bristling at being name-checked by the firm. The Heritage Foundation today sought to distance itself from FIR’s efforts, stressing to PI that it is not working with the firm, and slamming the notion that its standing among conservatives might be used in a campaign to help improve any entity’s climate credentials.

— “I don’t know who these grifters are pretending to be able to ‘leverage’ The Heritage Foundation, but they’re selling a bill of goods,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts told PI in a statement. “Conservatives aren’t for sale, they won’t be influenced by globalists, and they’ll never buy into the Green scam.”

Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Hitting the fundraising circuit this month? Drop me a line with any good spotteds or other K Street gossip: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE.

 
 

IRA BOOK TAX REMAINS IN FLUX: “It was a simple idea: Major U.S. corporations should pay at least a 15 percent tax on their income, ending an era when some of the country’s most profitable firms owed the federal government little or nothing at all. Instead, the policy championed by President Biden remains bogged down in Washington amid growing legal uncertainty — and a barrage of fierce lobbying by companies that don’t want to foot the bill,” The Washington Post’s Tony Romm reports.

— “Nearly a year after its enactment, the U.S. government still has not yet fully implemented the new corporate alternative minimum tax, as the Biden administration races to finalize a complex and critical element of Democrats’ broader economic agenda.”

— “In a fiscal review of the policy, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated last year that about 150 corporate taxpayers could be forced to pay the new tax, later finding it could generate more than $222 billion in federal revenue over the next decade. But exactly which firms pay — and how much money the government takes in — hinges on a series of unresolved legal issues that stem from a law written in haste.”

— “In the meantime, major lobbying organizations that represent companies like AT&T, Amazon, Duke Energy, Ford and FedEx have seized on the uncertainty to press for changes that may reduce their tax bills. One group representing gas utilities even warned they could raise prices on customers depending on how the administration implemented the tax rules.”

— “The developments have raised fears among some watchdogs that savvy corporations could end up paying far less than Biden envisioned, skirting a policy that explicitly aims to prevent profitable firms from dodging taxes.”

IDEMIA’S CLEAR SHOT: “Two companies that help fast-track passengers through airport security lines are pushing for Congress to aid each of them in their battle to dominate the market, a fight that could lead to longer wait times as travel surges,” POLITICO’s Alex Daugherty and Oriana Pawlyk report.

— “That power struggle is part of a recent effort to require all travelers to submit to TSA ID checks — even those who have been pre-screened by CLEAR, which allows its paying customers to cut to the front of security lines with a biometric scan instead of presenting an ID.”

— “CLEAR is under increasing scrutiny for recent security breaches — including an incident where a passenger got through security with a boarding pass dug out of the trash. Now CLEAR’s biggest rival — a company called Idemia that performs background checks for TSA PreCheck and makes the TSA’s ID-scanning machines — is seizing the moment to urge lawmakers to make ID checks mandatory for CLEAR’s members, which could cut into CLEAR’s business model.”

— “The skirmish is just the latest in a long-running competition between the two companies, who’ve been using lobbying campaigns to win increasing shares of the lucrative market to speed up airport security.”

— Adding to the battle is the fact that “CLEAR’s investors include some airlines but not others,” with a member of the latter faction teaming up with Idemia to pitch Senate Appropriations staffers “on language, seen by POLITICO, that would have required all travelers to submit to TSA ID checks” — though final language in the 2024 DHS spending bill didn’t go quite as far as the coalition wanted.

— “Also tucked into the spending bill is language that would require TSA to brief the committee on potential security incidents involving CLEAR and a plan to address any security vulnerabilities ‘created by [Registered Traveler] service providers’ — a nod to at least three security incidents involving CLEAR that have alarmed lawmakers and regulators alike.”

MEANWHILE, IN CALIFORNIA: As part of POLITICO’s major new expansion in the Golden State, our colleagues out West are up with two new looks today at how business and labor interests are seeking to shape policy in the state on issues that supporters and opponents alike see having potentially national ramifications — for better or for worse.

— Our Jeremy B. White dives into how legislative fights in Sacramento have become merely the first stage of a yearslong battle between workers and wealthy interests like corporations, thanks to California’s ballot initiative process. “Like never before, the business of lawmaking in Sacramento is intertwined with a ballot initiative industry that churns through hundreds of millions of dollars each cycle — and policy battles loop from the Legislature to the streets back to the Legislature again,” Jeremy writes.

— “By going to the ballot, proponents can win — even if they ultimately lose the election — by freezing the law until voters weigh in.” Case in point: A showdown between unions, fast food workers and restaurant chains over working conditions that could result in the nation’s first unionized fast food workers.

— The prospect “has unleashed a ferocious counteroffensive from a franchise industry determined to protect its business model and confine the threat to California,” Jeremy writes, with opponents already having qualified a referendum for next year’s ballot. “Sacramento’s escalating, multi-year fight over fast food labor has led corporations to spend more than $80 million since 2021 to block efforts to regulate pay and address health and safety concerns.”

HISTORY LESSON: Our Jasper Goodman reports that “Mark Zuckerberg has a lesson to offer archrival and potential cage-match opponent Elon Musk: Beware of Washington when trying to build an ‘everything app.’”

— “Lawmakers are warning that Musk could face scrutiny if he pushes ahead with plans to turn X, the social media giant once known as Twitter, into a financial services provider. It’s a key step to achieving Musk’s long-held goal of building a mega-app that serves as a hub for messaging, payments and more.”

— “Musk, the world’s richest man, will need to avoid the political and regulatory pitfalls that killed Zuckerberg’s plan to launch a cryptocurrency payments system alongside Facebook. Zuckerberg and his partners scrapped the project following resistance from Capitol Hill, banking regulators and European officials.”

— “Zuckerberg’s experience revealed broad concerns in Washington and Brussels about the intermingling of social media and finance that still linger. He faced fatal opposition even as he pledged to delay the project and address officials’ objections. It’s questionable whether Musk, who has long taken a more combative approach to dealing with regulators — and who has also become a political lightning rod — would fare any better.”

 

A NEW PODCAST FROM POLITICO: Our new POLITICO Tech podcast is your daily download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy around the world. From AI and the metaverse to disinformation and cybersecurity, POLITICO Tech explores how today’s technology is shaping our world — and driving the policy decisions, innovations and industries that will matter tomorrow. SUBSCRIBE AND START LISTENING TODAY.

 
 
Jobs Report

Jody Calemine is joining The Century Foundation as a senior fellow and director of labor and employment policy. He most recently served as general counsel and chief of staff at the Communications Workers of America and is a former staff director for the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

Tuyet Duong is now chief policy and government affairs officer at the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. She previously was with the management and public diplomacy sections of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

GOD, FAMILY, & COUNTRY PAC (Hybrid PAC)
IonQ, Inc. PAC (PAC)
Moore for West Virginia State Account (PAC)
Stronger Tomorrow (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Capitol Counsel LLC: North Island Ventures, LLC
Fgs Global (US) LLC (Fka Fgh Holdings LLC): California Canning Peach Association
Guide Consulting Services, Inc.: Beacon Specialized Living
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: By Light Professional It Services LLC
K&L Gates, LLP: Beyond Finance LLC
K&L Gates, LLP: International Sustainability Standards Board (Issb)
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Kraft-Heinz Company
Prime Transatlantic, LLC: Environmental Defense Action Fund, Inc
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: Bgi Shenzhen Co., Ltd.

New Lobbying Terminations

None.

 

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Listen on Apple Podcast
 

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to .

More emails from POLITICO Influence