News: Here’s where K Street scored victories in the reconciliation framework

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Here’s where K Street scored victories in the reconciliation framework

Oct 28, 2021

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By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by

With Hailey Fuchs and Daniel Lippman

WHERE K STREET WON IN THE WHITE HOUSE'S RECONCILIATION FRAMEWORK: K Street is poised to spend the next several days poring over the freshly unveiled legislative text of Democrats' reconciliation bill, but a broad framework for the package released by the White House this morning offered some helpful signposts for where fierce lobbying over a litany of provisions over the past few months has paid off.

— But the release of text ahead of a House Rules markup on the package is not the final word on the bill and will set off a new wave of lobbying to ensure clients' priorities are added in or removed before it heads to President Joe Biden's desk. "It actually feels like this is a major jumping off point," said Mark Williams, a principal at Ferox Strategies.

— The devil was always going to be in the details, Williams noted. "Over the next couple of days, you'll see people that had items omitted really push to have them included. And you'll see huge pushes to get some of these various provisions removed." Ivan Zapien, who leads Hogan Lovells' government affairs practice, told PI that he can't remember a more fluid period of time in Washington.

— Early this morning, the White House released a $1.85 trillion framework for the package, broadly outlining which key policies would be in the final bill — and which unlucky entities would be targeted to help fund the bill. The business community, which fought hard to avoid an increase in the corporate tax rate, appeared to have won out when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) came out against the idea. The White House's framework still provides for a 15 percent corporate minimum tax on large corporations, though some corners of the business world, like retailers, have applauded that inclusion.

— One of biggest question marks in the package is whether Democrats coalesce around a deal on drug price negotiations struck between Biden and Sinema, after Sinema and several other moderates in the House and Senate torpedoed House Energy & Commerce Chair Frank Pallone's (D-N.J.) vision earlier this month. Democrats' proposal to allow the government to negotiate the price of certain drugs was the subject of a massive lobbying and PR blitz by drug makers, which have poured millions of dollars into defeating the plan, and was not included in the House text or the White House's framework — an omission Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called "non negotiable."

— An excise tax on tobacco and nicotine products approved by the House Ways and Means Committee and opposed by the tobacco industry, along with convenience stores and truck stop operators, was left off the White House's menu of pay-fors, though the levy's inclusion was perplexing to some on K Street to begin with, given Biden's pledge not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000.

— Banks and financial institutions, meanwhile, appeared to have successfully killed a plan that would require banks to report more account information to the IRS in an effort to crack down on tax cheats. Banks, as well as Republicans, have hammered Democrats over the proposal, calling it an intrusion of privacy and complaining the requirements would be a burden to implement. On Wednesday, nearly two dozen House Democrats wrote to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) asking that the requirements be dropped from the bill, an effort organized by the Credit Union National Association and state credit union associations. The White House's list of revenue raisers does not mention the requirements, and Rob Nichols, president of the American Bankers Association , called its exclusion "a victory for consumers and small businesses."

— "Americans should honor their tax obligations, but forcing financial institutions to share private financial data from millions of customers with the IRS was the wrong way to reduce the tax gap," Nichols said in a statement, thanking "the many lawmakers in both parties who understood the significant privacy concerns with the proposal and fought to keep it out of the proposed reconciliation framework" while keeping an eye out in case the language is added later.

— While Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) nixed a cornerstone of Democrats' climate agenda that would pay utilities to increase their use of renewables and fine those that don't, in a victory for the industry and utilities, the House text includes a methane fee on oil and gas facilities that moderates and the fossil fuel industry fought to kill.

— But at least one K Streeter said the wins for D.C. lobbyists were overstated. Rich Gold, who leads Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group, maintained that a scaled-back version of Biden's campaign promises was inevitable. Washington operatives claiming credit for the changes in the bill were misleading, he added. "There's lobbying where you take credit for the sun coming up," he told PI. "Some of this s--t is taking credit for the sun coming up, and for those of us who had to work our asses off to get some stuff done here, you know it's a — this is why people hate lobbyists."

— A Republican lobbyist who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that K Street's influence in the process altogether is overblown. While the corporate world surely gave Sinemanchin some cover for their positions, it wasn't the lobbyists knocking on their door that did the trick, the person said.

— Zapien sounded a similar note. "Sometimes a certain part of the caucus aligns with your clients," he said. "Sometimes it doesn't," and lobbyists must then strategize "based on those dynamics." In high-stakes negotiations, like talks on the reconciliation bill, he added, "you have to warn your clients, like that this part of the Democratic caucus is gonna, you know, holler at your particular industry, and you will just brace yourself for it." But "the rhetoric, and having a bull's eye against you [as a lobbyist] … it's not something I worry about."

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send lobbying and K Street tips, especially as you peruse the reconciliation text: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from Partnership for America's Health Care Future:

American families deserve access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care to help them get healthy and stay healthy. Let's build on and improve what's working in health care – not start over with an unaffordable, new government-controlled health insurance system like the public option or by opening up Medicare to younger Americans. Learn more.

CGCN ACQUIRES MATADOR: GOP lobbying shop CGCN Group is merging with Matador, the public affairs firm founded in 2018 by veteran GOP communications strategist Tracey Schmitt . As part of the merger, which goes into effect on Monday, Matador's Merrill Smith will join CGCN as a partner and Katherine Coughlin as a policy adviser. Matador's chief creative officer, Nick Lintott, will continue to provide creative and production services through Matador Media Group.

— Schmitt, who will be a senior partner at CGCN, has more than two decades of communications experience in Republican politics and the private sector, previously serving as press secretary for the RNC, as well as President George W. Bush's reelection campaign, John McCain 's presidential campaign and Bush's second inaugural committee. She also served as senior vice president of global public affairs at Emergent BioSolutions.

— "Since our launch in 2018, we have been approached by other firms, but it wasn't until my discussion with Matt and the team at CGCN that I was confident this was the right move at the right time," Schmitt said in a statement, referencing CGCN Group co-CEO Matt Rhoades . "I'm incredibly proud of what we've built and believe this next chapter will result in a stronger organization, poised to meet the growing demand for savvy and cutting-edge communications campaigns."

— "Bringing our teams together will not only expand our stable of award-winning strategic communications experts but provide an even deeper bench of knowledge and expertise for all of our clients," Rhoades said in a statement.

KHANNA PRESSES OIL EXECS ON API LOBBYING: In today's House Oversight hearing featuring fossil fuel executives and the heads of the industry's largest trade group and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, "Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), chair of the House Oversight subcommittee on environment, called on more oil companies to quit their membership in the American Petroleum Institute over its opposition to climate policies such as electric vehicle subsidies," The Washington Post's Maxine Joselow writes.

— "French oil giant Total announced in January that it was leaving the API, saying it could not reconcile differences with the powerful trade association over carbon pricing, electric vehicle subsidies and the regulation of methane emissions. 'Will any of you look at API and say, "stop it"?' Khanna asked the top executives of BP, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil and Chevron. His question was met with blank stares, and none of the executives would commit to leaving the powerful lobbying and trade group. Khanna also implored the executives to conduct independent audits to confirm that their companies were not contributing to climate disinformation and denial. None would commit to the audit, either."

— The panel's Democratic staff also released a report this morning in conjunction with the hearing pegging the combined lobbying spending since 2011 by API, BP, Shell, Exxon and Chevron at $452.6 million at the federal level alone. "But less than 0.4 percent of the industry's legislative lobbying over the past decade was on carbon pricing legislation, the analysis found, even as the top executives of BP, Shell and API plan to tout their support for carbon pricing in their prepared testimonies," Joselow wrote.

— "Over the past 10 years, these four companies have dedicated only a very tiny fraction of their immense lobbying resources to enact the policies they publicly claim are key to address climate change, while spending tens of millions to protect their profits from oil and gas," Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said.

A message from Partnership for America's Health Care Future:

LOBBYING ON ESG ON THE RISE: "Lobbyists have ramped up advocacy on environmental, social and governance issues nine months into the Biden administration, as companies and trade associations look to sway federal agencies on anticipated regulations dealing with climate-related risk disclosure," Roll Call's Ellen Meyers reports.

— "Lobbyists mentioned the acronym 'ESG' in third-quarter federal lobbying reports as a specific issue for 63 unique clients, according to a review of filings by CQ Roll Call. That number is nearly double from the first quarter of the year, which included the start of Biden's presidency and Democratic control of Congress, and in line with the second quarter. There were 37 and 68 distinct mentions of ESG in lobbying disclosures during the first and second quarters, respectively."

— "The jump in ESG advocacy this year is particularly driven by the Biden administration's regulatory push to have the U.S. financial regulatory system incorporate more disclosure to better inform regulators, investors and consumers on institutions and companies' ESG activities, lobbyists say. More specifically, the Securities and Exchange Commission's highly anticipated proposed rule on climate-related risk has been at the forefront of their efforts. Industry observers say the proposal will come out either by the end of the year or early in 2022, and some lobbyists expect another surge in advocacy to follow once the SEC starts working on finalizing any disclosure requirements."

INTRODUCING CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. GET A FIRST LOOK AT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.

Jobs Report

SPOTTED at a party Wednesday on Williams & Jensen's rooftop toasting their newest hire, Grant Barbosa, and their 2021 new principals, Mahlet Makonnen and Nicole Bertsch, and shareholders, Chris Wilcox and James Burchfield, per a tipster: Reps. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.); Pfizer's Angela Riemer; PhRMA's Anne Esposito; Vanguard Group's Ben Barasky; Novo Nordisk's Chris Pernie, Gill Stevens and Preston Bell; Anthem's Sam Marchio and Adam Goldberg; Emergent's Chris Frech and Jill Hamaker; the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association's Jason Ortega; Compass Point's Katherine Duveneck; Visa's Kathleen Black; General Motors' Omar Vargas; the Information Technology Industry Council's Lara Muldoon; the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers' Jeremy Pollack; Stanley Black & Decker's Chris Ternet; NCTA - The Internet & Television Association's Michael Dean; National Association of State Treasurers' Dillon Gibbons and Kari Arfstrom; BP's John Phillippe; Comcast's Melissa Maxfield and Mitch Rose; American Council of Life Insurers' Jill Kozeny; and Biden administration representatives from HHS, Treasury and USTR.

— Weber Shandwick Chair Jack Leslie announced his retirement this morning after a 45-year career in comms and public affairs.

— Errol Cockfield and Andrew Williams will join Brunswick Group as partners in the New York office next month. Cockfield, who will work with technology, media and telecom clients and was most recently senior vice president of communications at MSNBC , and Williams, who will join the global financial institutions practice, was most recently managing director of corporate communications at Goldman Sachs.

— Baker Donelson has named S. Craig Holden as co-chair of the Baker Ober Health Law Group. Holden recently completed service as president of the American Health Law Association and previously served as the chair and chief executive officer of the firm of Ober, Kaler Grimes and Shriver, which merged with Baker Donelson in 2017.

— Christine Warnke will be director of Protocol and International Affairs for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. She was most recently senior vice president and global business development vice president at Capitol Hill Consulting Group.

— Reid Porter is now senior director of state relations at PhRMA, Playbook reports. He most recently was manager of media relations at the American Petroleum Institute , where he worked for 11 years

New Joint Fundraisers

Masters Vance Committee (Blake Masters for Senate, J.D. Vance for Senate, Inc.)

New PACs

American Behavioral Health Association (PAC)

Citizens for American Free Speech (Super PAC)

Iowa Voter Info (PAC)

Rental Equity Initiative PAC (PAC)

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New Lobbying Registrations

Brown & Weinraub, Pllc: Pace University

Floridian Partners, LLC: Miami Dade County Fair And Exposition, Inc.

Gallant Government & Law Group, LLC: Talkie Communications, Inc.

Johnston Group, LLC: Jefferson Healthcare

Olive Ai: Olive Ai

Salinas Strategies LLC: Intel Corporation

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Dorr LLP: Coinbase, Inc.

Windward Strategies LLC: Freepoint Eco-Systems LLC

New Lobbying Terminations

S-3 Group: National Association Of Letter Carriers

The Dlm Group: Senn Brothers, Inc.

The Dlm Group: Skedco Inc

A message from Partnership for America's Health Care Future:

Government-controlled health insurance systems - like the public option and Medicare at 60 - could increase costs for patients and threaten access to the quality care Americans rely on.

Lawmakers should build on and improve what's working in health care where private coverage, Medicare and Medicaid work together, not start over by creating unaffordable, new government health insurance systems. Get the facts.