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Presented by the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Theodoric Meyer | Presented by |  | | | With Daniel Lippman COALITION FIGHTING CORPORATE TAX HIKES STEPS UP LOBBYING: The Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably Coalition — which counts AT&T, CVS Health, FedEx, Lockheed Martin, the National Retail Federation, Toyota, Verizon and other companies among its members — has hired Forbes Tate Partners to lobby against President Joe Biden’s plan to raise the corporate rate to 28 percent. — Forbes Tate lobbyists are reaching out to House and Senate Democrats, including those on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, according to a Forbes Tate lobbyist. They’re making the case that the U.S. corporate tax rate needs to be competitive with other countries, and that raising the rate to 28 percent would have a “downstream effect on prices, wages and jobs.” The firm’s insights division is also doing polling and holding focus groups on the issue. — Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who served alongside Biden and later co-founded the lobbying firm Lincoln Policy Group, is also working for the coalition, though she isn’t registered to lobby for it. With the economy still recovering from the pandemic, “now would be the worst time to raise the corporate rate,” she said in written testimony submitted this week to the Senate Finance Committee. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. I’m filling in for Caitlin, who’s off until June 1. What should I cover next week? Tips: tmeyer@politico.com. You can also follow me on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer. | | A message from the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future: NEW STUDY: The number of uninsured Americans would fall significantly under an enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) model – providing the latest evidence that the most effective way to expand access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care is to build on and improve what’s working. Get the facts. | | | FARA FRIDAY: The Justice Department this week released another batch of Foreign Agents Registration Act advisory opinions, which guide lawyers advising lobbyists on whether or not they need to register as foreign agents. While lawyers specializing in FARA say the opinions don’t include any big surprises, they shed a little more light on what’s allowed under the law and what isn’t following the Justice Department's prosecution of Paul Manafort and others during the Trump administration for violating FARA. — In one opinion, the Justice Department told a public relations firm that it couldn’t register under less burdensome domestic lobbying disclosure rules even though it represented the U.S. subsidiary of a foreign company, rather than a foreign government. “The Justice Department is signaling that even if the four corners of a document don’t scream out that a foreign government is involved, they’re going to look at the totality of the circumstances," Brandon Van Grack, a former chief of the department’s FARA unit who’s now a partner at Morrison & Foerster, wrote in an email to PI. — Another advisory opinion concluded that a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign corporation lobbying against U.S. tariffs didn’t have to register under FARA. “In a nuance only FARA lawyers could love, the opinion says that a foreign government would not be ‘a’ principal beneficiary of the lobbying, much less 'the' principal beneficiary, even though the foreign government itself opposed the tariffs,” Robert Kelner of Covington & Burling wrote in an email to PI. “This touches on a raging debate among FARA lawyers and the Department concerning the meaning of the LDA exemption.” ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: “Not long after her election to Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., helped raise money for a super PAC by appearing in a video ad that tests the boundaries of rules limiting fundraising by elected officials,” ProPublica’s Isaac Arnsdorf (a PI alum) reports. — “The ad explicitly asks for money for the Stop Socialism Now PAC , an entity that can accept unlimited donations. But candidates and elected officials are not allowed to solicit contributions greater than $5,000, according to campaign finance experts.” While lawyers differed in their assessments of whether Greene violated the law, “Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert with the good-government advocacy group Common Cause, said he believes the Greene ad clearly crosses the line.” | | | | A message from the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future:   | | | A LOBBYIST RUNS FOR OFFICE: It’s not uncommon for former Washington lobbyists to run for office, although they have a mixed track record of success. Former Reps. David Jolly (R-Fla.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) were registered lobbyists before winning election (and Comstock returned to K Street after losing in 2018), while the former lobbyist Ed Gillespie mounted unsuccessful campaigns for Virginia governor and for Senate (though he came close to ousting Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in 2014). — It’s perhaps less common for currently registered lobbyists to run for office — but Cogent Strategies’ Andrew Kauders ran and won this week. He'll be a member of the village council of Martin’s Additions, Md., starting July 1. CASHING IN THEIR CHIPS: “Washington’s pledge to pour tens of billions of taxpayer dollars into making more microchips in the U.S. is setting off behind-the-scenes squabbles among industries angling for a slice of the spoils,” POLITICO’s Steven Overly reports. “Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday convened nearly three dozen executives from many of those sectors, including tech, autos and semiconductors, for a second high-level confab with the Biden administration in just over a month. So many companies wanted to participate they were split into two sessions.” | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — Eli Lilly has hired Greg Daniel as the global head of public policy. He was previously head of U.S. health care policy for Edwards Lifesciences. — Invariant has hired Mae Chinnes as its research and internship coordinator. She was previously a staff assistant to Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). | | | None | | | None | | New Lobbying Registrations | | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: National Restaurant Association
Arrival Automotive USA Inc.: Arrival Automotive USA Inc.
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP: American Council on Renewable Energy
Holland & Knight LLP: HMS Associates (on behalf of Friendship House Assoc. of American Indians)
Invariant LLC: Id.Me, Inc.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Tower 19: Ryan LLC
Vectrus, Inc.: Vectrus, Inc. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | New Lobbying Terminations | | A10 Associates, LLC: Greyscan Australia Pty Ltd.
Bryant Songy Snell LLC: Nissan North America, Inc.
Winning Strategies Washington: Olivian
Winning Strategies Washington: Saxon Glass Technologies, Inc. | | A message from the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future: A new study on the impacts of expanding the Affordable Care Act finds that roughly 8.1 million (30 percent) and 9.6 million (34 percent) fewer people will be uninsured after the ACA enhancements in 2023 and 2032, respectively, helping more Americans access the care they need. Let’s build on what’s working, not start over. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
