Cornell adds an outside firm

From: POLITICO Influence - Thursday Feb 01,2024 11:32 pm

Feb 01, 2024

With Daniel Lippman

CORNELL HIRES CAPITOL TAX PARTNERS: Cornell University has tapped top tax lobbying firm Capitol Tax Partners to lobby on issues related to the taxation of university endowments, according to a newly filed disclosure. Richard Grafmeyer, a former deputy chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation and a former top tax staffer on the Senate Finance Committee, will work on the account along with Melissa Mueller, a former tax counsel for the tax writing Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees.

— This is the first time Cornell has hired an outside lobbying firm, according to disclosure filings dating back to 1999, and it comes as elite universities’ endowments have become a target of conservatives amid scrutiny over how campuses have responded to protests stemming from the Israel-Hamas war.

— Since the end of last year, when a disastrous hearing on the issue led to the resignations of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University and prompted House Republicans to open an investigation into antisemitism on college campuses, some of the country’s top universities have rushed to bring on top D.C. crisis communicators.

— But university lobbyists are also working to fend off threats to their endowments, according to lobbying disclosures, including efforts to hike up taxes on the wealthiest institutions. In December, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) introduced legislation that would increase the excise tax on endowment net investment income from 1.4 percent to 35 percent for nonreligious, private colleges with more than $10 billion in assets.

— The change would impact Yale University, Stanford University, Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Columbia University, Washington University, Duke University and Vanderbilt University, according to Vance, but Democrats blocked the bill in December.

— Another bill from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) would slap a one-time 6 percent excise tax on “woke endowments” — secular institutions whose endowments are valued at at least $12.2 billion, or $9 billion if the university also operates a state contract college — which Cotton said would cover Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Penn, Northwestern, Columbia, Washington University and Cornell.

— Princeton, Yale, Stanford and Rutgers University all mentioned either Vance’s or Cotton’s bill by name in their fourth quarter lobbying reports, as did the Association of American Universities.

— The National Association of College and University Business Officers, which represents university business and finance professionals, warned last year that while Republican proposals targeting endowments probably won’t become law — especially in an election year — “the positions and proposals should not be ignored by college leaders,” who it urged to speak to the public and to policymakers about “the important roles your endowments serve in supporting students, faculty and staff, research efforts, and more.”

— Colleges have also opposed bipartisan shots at their endowment funds. In November, Baylor University’s College of Medicine hired a group of former Hill tax aides at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to lobby on issues related to the excise tax on endowments.

— The hire came weeks before the House Education and Workforce Committee advanced a bipartisan bill to expand short-term Pell Grants — which would be paid for by ending new federal student loans for students attending schools subject to the excise tax, much to schools’ chagrin.

Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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OUT FOR REVENGE: “Kevin McCarthy is not done trying to exact revenge on the fellow Republicans who ended his Hill career,” our Ally Mutnick and Olivia Beavers report. “After a devastating ejection from the speakership that he spent 16 years pursuing, the California Republican and his allies are mobilizing to oust the eight GOP lawmakers who joined Democrats to depose him.”

— “A top McCarthy ally, Brian O. Walsh, is overseeing an attempt to recruit primary challengers to take on members of the infamous ‘Gaetz Eight’ — the Capitol’s nickname for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and seven Republicans who supported his fire-McCarthy push — according to six people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss them.”

— “The McCarthy revenge campaign is ready to marshal the former speaker’s considerable donor network on behalf of Republican primary candidates who are deemed strong enough to pose a credible threat to one of the eight.”

— “Walsh is acting with McCarthy’s blessing. While the former speaker is not involved in the day-to-day work of the project, he is briefed on its progress, as are key donors, according to a person familiar with the effort who was granted anonymity to discuss it.”

PI METRO SECTION: A coalition of “lobbyists, congressional aides, political fundraisers, and communications executives … are signing on as volunteers in a budding effort to oust D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen (D), who represents Capitol Hill, over his handling of local criminal justice policy,” Bloomberg’s Kate Ackley writes.

— “They’re deploying their professional skills, such as raising money, recruiting organizers, and devising a messaging strategy — but in their personal time and separate from their day jobs. These K Street and congressional insiders are making the highly unusual foray into local politics because they’re worried for their safety and for the future of the capital city. City officials, like Allen, they said, haven’t taken the crime situation seriously enough.”

— The campaign’s “first fundraising deadline was Wednesday and supporters have included in-house TikTok lobbyist Michael Hacker, a former House Democratic leadership aide; Democratic fundraiser Tonya Fulkerson of Fulkerson Kennedy & Co.; and Mitchell Rivard, who is chief of staff for Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and lives in D.C., though not in Allen’s ward. Rich Masters, executive vice president for public affairs at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, is helping lead the public relations effort in his spare time.”

ANNALS OF FUNDRAISING: “Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake is headlining a campaign fundraiser on Friday hosted by two wealthy QAnon supporters,” Daniel reports. “Caryn and Michael Borland, who have shared numerous QAnon posts on their social media platforms, are holding the fundraiser for the likely GOP nominee at their mansion in Prescott, Arizona. Tickets for the Lake fundraiser are sold on a sliding scale, from $50 per person to $13,200 to be a ‘Leadership Committee’ co-chair, $6,600 to be a ‘co-host’ and $3,300 to be a ‘sponsor.’”

— “The couple last caught public attention when a fundraiser they were going to host in Montana for former Vice President Mike Pence was canceled after the Associated Press reported on their QAnon ties. Though he didn’t give a reason, he had previously said QAnon was a ‘conspiracy theory.’”

— “Lake, a former local news anchor, has attempted to pivot from her 2022 campaign for governor, when she ran a campaign heavily focused on election denialism. She lost that election to Democrat Katie Hobbs, but never conceded the race.”

SPOTTED at Améthyste, the annual bipartisan fête hosted by French Ambassador Laurent Bili, Semafor’s Steven Clemons, Urban One’s Alfred Liggins III, and Invariant’s Heather Podesta, per a tipster: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Reps. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Jim Himes (D- Conn.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, Export-Import Bank Chair Reta Jo Lewis, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, Airbus’ Matthew Mazonkey, Booking Holdings’ Maryam Mujica, Chevron’s Karen Knutson, Chime’s Avery Jaffe, General Motors’ Omar Vargas, Microsoft’s Fred Humphries, SK Group’s Kelsey Flora and Allen Jamerson, the Council on Foreign Relations’ Michael Froman, Andreessen Horowitz’s David Ulevitch, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, Mike Donilon and Mitch Landrieu of the Biden reelect, Steve and Amy Ricchetti, Brookings Institution’s Cecilia Rouse and Pascal Confavreux of the French Embassy.

Jobs Report

— David Mann is returning to Holland & Knight as a senior policy adviser, and Jason Hill is joining as a partner based in Houston. Mann most recently was vice president of external affairs at Oberon Fuels and Hill most recently was counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth.

— Matthew Fitting is now director of government affairs at Emergent BioSolutions. He was previously director of advocacy at the National Kidney Foundation.

— Jack Wilkinson has been promoted to vice president of government relations at Tiger Hill Partners. He was previously a senior associate at the firm.

— Brian Wagner has been named vice president of marketing and communications at Tria Federal. He was previously head of U.S. government communications at Maxar Intelligence.

— Joanna Girardin Shapiro is joining the American Bankers Association as chief member engagement officer. She previously was managing director and segment head for the U.S. federal government, document custody and public finance in Bank of New York Mellon’s corporate trust division.

— Tim Monahan is joining Atlas Crossing as senior vice president of government affairs. He previously was a senior adviser to both Speaker Mike Johnson and McCarthy, and is a House Administration and House Appropriations alum.

— Former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño is now a partner at Reed Smith. He most recently has been a partner at Steptoe.

— TaNisha Cameron is now senior comms adviser to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. She previously worked on the communications team for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

— Christine Wilson is now a senior adviser in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s antitrust practice. She most recently was an FTC commissioner.

— Lucas Stockslader is now associate vice president at Precision. He previously was director of research operations at Morning Consult.

— SMI is adding Nick Vance as a director and Jason Mello as a senior adviser. Vance most recently was a professional staff member for the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Mello is a retired Air Force colonel and former president of Firefly Space Transport Services, a subsidiary Firefly Aerospace.

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New Joint Fundraisers

2024 RNC VICTORY (Presidential Republican Nominee Fund 2024, Republican National Committee, Alaska Republican Party, Mississippi Republican Party, Republican Party of Arkansas, Connecticut Republican State Central Committee, Inc., Dc Republican Party Federal Account, Georgia Republican Party Inc., Republican Party of Guam, Republican Party Of Kentucky, Republican Party of Louisiana, Oklahoma Leadership Council, Republican State Committee of Delaware, Missouri Republican State Committee-Federal, South Carolina Republican Party, South Dakota Republican Party, Tennessee Republican Party Federal Election Account, Utah Republican Party, NY Republican Federal Campaign Committee, Rhode Island Republican State Central Committee, Maryland Republican State Central Committee, Massachusetts Republican Party, Washington State Republican Party, Republican Party of Iowa, North Carolina Republican Party, New Hampshire Republican State Committee, Illinois Republican Party - Federal, Oregon Republican Party, New Jersey Republican State Committee, Montana Republican State Central Committee, Republican Party of Wisconsin, Indiana Republican State Committee, Inc., Maine Republican Party, Ohio Republican Party State Central & Executive Committee, Republican Federal Committee of Pennsylvania, Nevada Republican Central Committee, Republican Party of Minnesota - Federal, California Republican Party Federal Acct., Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico, Republican Party of Florida, West Virginia Republican Party, Inc., Republican Party of Virginia Inc)

New PACs

Foundations For A Better Future (Super PAC)

Progressive Source PAC (Super PAC)

Real Texans for Justice (Super PAC)

Take Back Your Liberty (Super PAC)

Youth for Common Sense (PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

A10 Associates, LLC: Lounge Lizard Worldwide Inc.

A10 Associates, LLC: Rivergreen LLC

Amanda Gort: Miramar Healthcare

C6 Strategies, LLC (Fka Ms. Dana W. Hudson): Alliance For Innovation And Infrastructure

Diroma Eck & Co. LLP: Blockchain Intelligence Group