News: House Democrats press Pelosi, DeLauro on fate of small business aid

Friday, March 18, 2022

House Democrats press Pelosi, DeLauro on fate of small business aid

Mar 18, 2022

With Daniel Lippman

DEMS ASK FOR SMALL BUSINESS AID IN COVID SUPPLEMENTAL: More than 40 members of the House Democratic Caucus are warning their leadership that they would have misgivings about supporting a Covid supplemental highly requested by the Biden administration if the additional aid didn't include assistance for various kinds of small businesses.

— In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Thursday, the lawmakers, led by Reps. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) made the case for providing targeted funding for industries that have lobbied for pandemic relief for the better part of the past two years. The aid was not included in a bipartisan deal struck last week to fund the government after Senate Republicans, whose support was necessary to pass the omnibus, objected to additional government spending as public health restrictions ease across the country.

— That objection also ended up dooming the prospects for additional cash for vaccines, testing and other pandemic programs requested by the White House. Appropriators, scrambling to win GOP support, sought to offset the Covid funds but after House Democrats revolted due to the sources of those offsets, Pelosi pulled the Covid aid from the package altogether.

— But in their letter to Pelosi and DeLauro on Thursday, the lawmakers argued that "falling case rates and the sunsetting of COVID-related restrictions will not be enough to compensate for two years of severe revenue shortfalls and mounting debts" for restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues, and the travel and hospitality industries. While the signatories said they are ready to work with Pelosi on passage of the Covid supplemental, "we would be hesitant to support such legislation if it did not include critical relief for our nation's hardest-hit small businesses," they wrote.

— "Without relief, every passing day is nothing short of willingly allowing our districts' small businesses to close their doors that — outside of the economic havoc of a global pandemic — would remain open," they added.

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FARA FRIDAY: "The American public has watched one passionate plea after another from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he pressures western nations for more help in his country's war with Russia. Behind the scenes, a network of PR professionals, lobbyists and former government officials have also built a powerful messaging machine to help pull strings on media coverage and policymaking," POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs writes.

— "Their profile and reach has grown as the war in Ukraine consumed the halls of government and the airwaves. One of the biggest Washington power players for Ukraine is Andrew Mac , an adviser to Zelenskyy who heads the D.C. office of a Ukrainian law firm and has served as a liaison to the media on Zelenskyy's behalf."

— "Separately, two firms that represent the Ukrainian oil and gas industry association have become de facto emissaries for the Ukrainian cause. Yorktown Solutions, a lobbying firm led by Daniel Vajdich, has conducted extensive outreach on the Hill, while KARV Communications, a New York City-based PR firm, has focused on handling inquiries from the press, according to interviews with employees at both firms. … The Ukrainian PR network has spanned Washington and beyond."

— Russia's invasion has prompted a flood of firms rushing to offer their services, as captured in several new FARA filings submitted to the Justice Department just this week. Mercury Public Affairs, a major player in the foreign lobbying sphere who until last month represented several Russian clients that are facing U.S. sanctions now or have in the past, registered to provide services to GloBee International Agency for Regional Development, a Ukraine-based strategy and lobbying consortium, free of charge.

— Mercury and another firm, lobbying and consulting shop Your Global Strategy, are working to connect government officials in Ukraine with state and local officials in the U.S., according to DOJ filings. As part of its work for GloBee, Your Global Strategy organized video calls between Kharkiv, Ukraine, Mayor Ihor Terekhov and New York Mayor Eric Adams, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, according to a filing. Mercury's engagement thus far has included outreach to Adams' international liaison in an effort to set up a call between Kharkiv officials and New York ones.

— Meanwhile a Maryland-based attorney, Lukas Jan Kaczmarek , disclosed to the Justice Department this week that he was working to help Ukraine's defense ministry "source existing inventory of equipment needed" by the ministry. "I expect to work in this capacity for the duration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and I have not, am not, and shall not receive any monetary compensation for my assistance," Kaczmarek said in a filing.

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THE APP STORE LOBBYING WARS: "A push in Congress to regulate digital app stores has pitted Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. against Microsoft Corp. and others in a showdown of some of the nation's biggest technology companies," writes Bloomberg's Brody Ford.

— "The Open App Markets Act focuses on a narrow slice of the sprawling internet economy: the billions in fees collected by app-store operators. The legislation has emerged as a flash point because it has the best chance of becoming law among a handful of bills aimed at reining in Big Tech."

— "Silicon Valley typically presents a united front on policy matters on Capitol Hill. Now, the schism is testing the resilience of Apple and Alphabet's influence in Washington when they are not aligned with other technology industry power players. App store fees, generally between 15% and 30% of each transaction, have delivered Apple and Alphabet-owned Google a combined $159 billion since 2015, according to data provided by market research firm SensorTower."

FORTENBERRY TRIAL KICKS OFF: "The trial of Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry opened Thursday as jurors began considering charges that the Republican congressman lied to federal investigators in a bid to conceal illegal campaign contributions he received during a 2016 California fundraiser," The Wall Street Journal's Christine Mai-Duc and Deanna Paul report.

— "Prosecutors allege Mr. Fortenberry, who has served in Congress since 2005, later learned that Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury illegally funneled $30,000 in contributions to his reelection campaign through straw donors at the fundraiser. But during interviews with federal agents investigating alleged contributions by Mr. Chagoury to several U.S. political candidates, Mr. Fortenberry repeatedly denied knowledge of Mr. Chagoury's involvement, prosecutors alleged."

— "'This is a case about choices, a series of choices that the defendant made that led him down an illegal path of lies and deception,' Assistant United States Attorney J. Jamari Buxton told jurors Thursday during opening statements at a Los Angeles federal courthouse. Mr. Buxton alleged that Mr. Fortenberry had continued to deceive investigators, despite multiple 'off-ramps' and opportunities to disclose the truth," while Fortenberry's "defense team told jurors that the case was driven by overzealous, ambitious investigators who had turned up little in a broad probe of suspect contributions to U.S. political candidates."

IN MEMORIAM: Roll Call's Kate Ackley has a lovely remembrance of former Rep. Vic Fazio, the California Democrat who led an illustrious lobbying career after his retirement from the House, and who died earlier this week. "'Vic Fazio is without a doubt one of the kindest, finest gentlemen I've ever known in politics or elsewhere,' said former New York GOP Rep. Bill Paxon, who chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee in the 1994 cycle and later worked with Fazio" at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

— Fazio, who served 10 terms from 1978 to 1998, "took a keen interest in the workings of Congress and the conditions for staff. One former aide said Fazio offered parental leave in his congressional office when such a policy was a rarity. And long after leaving Capitol Hill, he urged lawmakers to increase staff pay, especially to recruit and retain committee aides. 'Now people have to leave to go downtown to earn more money,' Fazio testified in 2019 to the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress."

Jobs Report

— Sarah Aillon is now director of digital media and communications at the Federation of American Hospitals. She was most recently a program administrator for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

— Neal McDonald was named vice president at FlexPoint Media. He was previously an advertising director.

— KJ Meyer Jr. is now a senior manager in the technology and industry advisory at Accenture Federal Services. He was most recently at Guidehouse in its national security sector and is a Bush State Department alum.

— Jesse Childs has been promoted to senior director at Think Big. He was previously director of client accounts there.

— Caitlin Chin will be a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, co-leading a research portfolio on technology regulation, Playbook reports. She most recently has been a research analyst at the Brookings Institution.

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New Joint Fundraisers

Lisa Scheller Victory Fund (Scheller for Congress, Inc., Lehigh Valley Action, NRCC)
Majority Conservative Fund (Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Majority Committee PAC MC PAC)
Team Brandon Victory Committee (BRANDON FOR CONGRESS NY22, Central New York PAC)

New PACs

America First P.A.C.T. Action (Super PAC)
American Police and Troopers Coalition PAC (Super PAC)
A Better Dallas (PAC)
Citizens for American Independence (Super PAC)
Eighteen Fifty-Four Fund (Super PAC)
House Of Prayer Super PAC (PAC)
Outspoken Action (Super PAC)
Quinn Works Pac (Super PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Avenue Solutions: Tobacco Free Kids Action Fund
Barloon.Co: Raft Technologies
Blank Rome Government Relations: Municipality Of Anchorage
Burrell International Group LLC: Apco Worldwide LLC (On Behalf Of Quidel Corp.)
Covington & Burling LLP: Inversiones De Generacion Electrica, S.A. (Ingelsa)
Goldstein Policy Solutions LLC: Raft Technologies
Johnston Group, LLC: City Of Woodinville
Rocket Lab USa, Inc.: Rocket Lab USa, Inc.

New Lobbying Terminations

Hogan Lovells US LLP: Apple, Inc.
Port Side Strategies, LLC: Sixteen Thirty Fund