Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Chamber, restaurant lobbies lay down markers on relief package — Keystone XL parent company hired Ricchetti before Biden yanked permit — Brownstein adds former Armed Services aide

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Mar 02, 2021 View in browser
 
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By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by Brilliant

With Daniel Lippman

CHAMBER DOUBLES DOWN ON RELIEF OPPOSITION: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reiterated its calls for congressional Democrats to pare back the relief bill that could pass the Senate as soon as this week, and urged lawmakers to reach across the aisle to find Republican votes for the $1.9 trillion package. In a statement, Neil Bradley, the Chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer, appeared to reference recent reports showing positive economic news , arguing that the developments are more "reason to target aid where it is needed" and that "the failure of Congress to heed the data and revise the American Rescue Plan means less money for other priorities, including infrastructure and education." He added later: "As currently drafted, the American Rescue Plan fails the test."

— The National Restaurant Association , on the other hand, threw its support behind the package today after it became clear the bill would not include a $15 minimum wage increase or scrap the tipped minimum wage. "Help for restaurants is help for employees and communities, and a signal that our country is one step closer to turning a corner," the group's top lobbyist, Sean Kennedy, wrote in a letter to congressional leadership, urging "prompt passage" of the bill and its restaurant relief provisions.

COMPANY BEHIND KEYSTONE XL HIRED RICCHETTI: TC Energy Corporation, the developer behind the Keystone XL pipeline, hired the brother of White House senior counselor Steve Ricchetti to lobby on its behalf just days before President Joe Biden revoked a key permit for the pipeline for a second time, new disclosure filings show. According to the filing made public Monday, TC Energy enlisted Ricchetti Inc.'s Jeff Ricchetti beginning on Jan. 15 to lobby on "legislative issues affecting energy infrastructure, the safe and efficient transportation of natural gas and liquids energy, renewable electricity policy, and alternative fuel sources like renewable natural gas and hydrogen."

— Killing the $8 billion project for the second time in less than a decade was a top priority of environmentalists and was among Biden's first executive actions on Inauguration Day. It reverses the presidential permit granted by former President Donald Trump, under the rationale that the proposed 1,200-mile project between Canada and the U.S. pipeline does "not serve the U.S. national interest," POLITICO's Ben Lefebvre and Lauren Gardner reported at the time. Though TC Energy is able to appeal Biden's decision, it "appeared ready to give up on its yearslong effort to build the pipeline," saying that it would suspend the project and that it "canceled plans to raise money to pay for the project."

— TC Energy is the first new client for Ricchetti this year, but it comes after business picked up significantly for his firm last year, bringing in the most revenue since 2013, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

 

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Good afternoon and welcome to PI. How is your firm or industry coping with virtual advocacy as we approach the one-year mark of everything going virtual? My inbox is open: coprysko@politico.com. As are my DMs: @caitlinoprysko.

FIRST IN PI — BROWNSTEIN ADDS FORMER ARMED SERVICES AIDE: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has hired Sean Callahan, a veteran of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, as it builds out its national security practice. Callahan is a former chief of staff to Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and prior to that served as legislative director and deputy chief of staff to the late Rep. Mark Takai (D-Hawaii) before his current role as executive manager of corporate business operations in Collier County, Fla.

— Callahan will register to lobby on national security, foreign policy, labor, land development and transportation issues, telling PI in an interview that clients are increasingly eager to squeeze their priorities into what has become one of the few reliable legislative vehicles, the must-pass annual defense authorization bill.

API PREPARES TO ENDORSE CARBON PRICING: The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil industry in Washington, "is poised to embrace putting a price on carbon emissions as a policy that would 'lead to the most economic paths to achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement,' according to a draft statement," The Wall Street Journal's Ted Mann and Timothy Puko report.

— It's a move that comes amid a broader shift in the business world, with other powerful business lobbies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and even some oil majors beginning to "acknowledge the dangers posed by greenhouse gases and adjust to a new reality" in a Democratic-controlled Washington.

— "Internally, many API members staunchly oppose endorsing a carbon tax," which API's draft statement stops short of backing, "or imposing standards for the use of renewable energy, according to one person familiar with the internal discussions who described them as 'heated.'" Total, a French oil giant, left API earlier this year "and pointed directly to API's past opposition to carbon pricing and U.S. regulation on methane emissions in its decision."

APPLE, GOOGLE SWOOP INTO ARIZONA TO BLOCK APP STORE BILL: Arizona has in recent weeks become "an unexpected hotspot in the country's antitrust debate, with the full force of the country's progressive anti-monopoly movement lining up behind a cadre of small to medium-sized developers against an aggressive army of Apple and Google lobbyists " to sink a bill that would let app developers use third-party payment systems to circumvent the cut that the tech giants currently take from app sales, Protocol's Emily Birnbaum reports.

— "Apple tapped its own lobbyist, Rod Diridon, to begin lobbying in Arizona. It hired Kirk Adams , the former chief of staff to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, to negotiate with" the bill's sponsor, State Rep. Regina Cobb. "It quickly joined the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, which began lobbying against the bill. And lawyers for both Google and Apple went straight to the Arizona House's lawyers to argue that the bill is unconstitutional."

IN MEMORIAM: "Vernon E. Jordan Jr. never held elective office, was never a member of the Cabinet and never even worked for the federal government. He was a lawyer who rarely appeared in court, a corporate kingmaker who was not a registered lobbyist, a political strategist who did not direct a campaign," The Washington Post's Matt Schudel writes of the former Clinton confidant who died yesterday at 85. "Yet Mr. Jordan was, for years, one of the most influential figures in Washington. With a commanding presence, personal charm and an inviolable sense of discretion, he had a rare combination of talents that made him the confidant of presidents, congressional leaders, business executives and civil rights figures. Mr. Jordan was the consummate Washington power broker, reaching the peak of his quiet authority during the 1990s, when he was, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton, President Bill Clinton's closest adviser."

A POLITICAL FIRM REBRANDS, ADDS TRUMP ALUM: A Political Firm has rebranded as Red Action Strategies ahead of next year's midterms and added Diante Johnson as a managing partner. Johnson is an alum of the both Trump campaigns and was a member of the Black Voices for Trump Advisory Board. He'll remain president of the Black Conservative Federation while focusing on business development, minority candidate outreach, campaign and messaging strategy, media outreach, coalition building, field operations and GOTV.

CLARIFICATION: Monday's edition of POLITICO Influence has been updated to reflect that Chris Dodd is still a senior counsel at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

 

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Jobs Report

Taylor Mountain joined Urban Legend as vice president of campaign strategy. She will focus on business development and helping trade groups, advocacy organizations and brands run influencer marketing campaigns using the company's proprietary platform. Prior to joining Urban Legend, she was national advertising director for The Hill.

Karolina Arias, most recently Democratic staff director for the Senate Banking Committee's securities, insurance and investment panel and a top financial services adviser to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), is leaving the Hill to join Federal Hall Policy Advisors as a partner.

CR Wooters is now director of federal affairs for Uber. He was previously co-founder of FIO360.

Mike Reddy is now director of advocacy at Marketing for Change . He was previously with National Journal's Ballast Research.

Engage has promoted Riley Bechdel and Ryan Fraase to vice president. They were previously directors of the client services and production teams.

Andrew Smith has rejoined Covington & Burling as a partner in its advertising and consumer protection, data privacy and cybersecurity, and financial services practices. He was most recently director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission.

 

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New Joint Fundraisers

DSCC Chair Victory Fund (Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), DSCC)

New PACs

COUNTRY FIRST PAC (Leadership PAC: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)
Defending the Republic PAC Inc. (Super PAC)
New Political Structure (Super PAC)
StackedPAC (PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Alabama Shipyard LLC
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Aon Service Corporation
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Fireeye, Inc.
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Twenty Holdings Inc
Allon Advocacy, LLC: Linear Financial Technologies
Bramer Group, LLC: Westcare Foundation
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: City Of Anchorage
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Duke Energy Corporation
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Tribal Communications Solutions
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Tyson Foods Inc
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Weconnect Health Management
Capitol Integration: Rcrane
Capitol Integration: Revacomm
Finley Hyde & Associates, LLC: American Innovations
Finley Hyde & Associates, LLC: Metteck
Genesis Group LLC: Red Industrial Products
Hartman Harman Cosco LLC: Humanity Forward
Health Policy Source, Inc.: Colfax Corporation
Jstrategy, LLC: Freedom For All Americans
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP: Yellow Corporation
King & Spalding LLP: Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, LLC: Abbott Laboratories
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, LLC: Adt, LLC
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, LLC: Arcadia Power Inc.
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, LLC: Ccia (Consumer Credit Industry Association)
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, LLC: Kinder Morgan, Inc.
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, LLC: Psgc (Prairie State Generating Company)
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Aiteo Group
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Alaska Native Village Corporation Association
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Covaxx
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Integrated Viral Protection
Michael Best Strategies LLC: National Heritage Academies
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Pacific Aviation
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Puerto Rico Statehood Council
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Ripple Labs Inc.
Michael Best Strategies LLC: T-Mobile
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Waste Management
North Star Strategies, LLC: Kentucky Association Of Manufacturers
Nvg, LLC: Amnesty International USa
O'Brien, Gentry & Scott, LLC: Hdt Global
Peck Madigan Jones: Latham & Watkins LLP (On Behalf Of Lg Chem)
Peck Madigan Jones: Saildrone, Inc.
Quinella Global LLC: U.S. Diplomatic Studies Foundation
Ricchetti Incorporated: Tc Energy Corporation
Ridge Policy Group: Ac Disaster Consulting
Squire Patton Boggs: Jubilant Pharma Holdings Inc.
The Cormac Group, LLC: People Over Profits, Inc.
The Edw Group: S&M Distributing, LLC
The Raben Group: Latinos For Education
The Sheridan Group: National Patient Advocacy Foundation
The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Rise, Inc.
The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Teva Pharmaceuticals USa, Inc.
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Iex Group, Inc.
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Pointstate Capital Lp
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Republic Consulting, LLC On Behalf Of Mortgage Bankers Association
Van Scoyoc Associates: University Of South Florida Board Of Trustees

 

For regulatory affairs professionals: AgencyIQ FDA Forecast 2021. In its inaugural year, AgencyIQ's FDA Forecast predicts the FDA regulatory changes coming in 2021 and how they will impact the life sciences industry. Follow this link to learn more and download the summary.

 
 


New Lobbying Terminations

First Strategic: Centurylink
Kna Services Inc: Greater Orlando Aviation Authority
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough: Kreindler & Kreindler (For Certain Plaintiffs In "9/11" Litigation)
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough: Kreindler & Kreindler (For Certain Plaintiffs In Mumbai Terrorism Litigation)
Potomac Strategic Devlopment Company, LLC: National Association Of Community Health Centers
Team Builders: Aaaom
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Hill Strategy LLC On Behalf Of Iex Group, Inc.
Turnberry Solutions, LLC: American Ethane Company LLC
Turnberry Solutions, LLC: Suffolk Administrative Services LLC
Turnberry Solutions, LLC: The Greatest Generations Foundation

 

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