Tuesday, May 3, 2022

A look at the abortion lobbying landscape

Presented by ACT|The App Association: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street.
May 03, 2022 View in browser
 
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By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by

ACT|The App Association

With and Daniel Lippman  

SURVEYING THE ABORTION LOBBYING LANDSCAPE: Monday night's bombshell publication by my colleagues Josh Gerstein and Alex Ward of a draft majority opinion that would strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision reverberated immediately across the country as lawmakers and advocacy groups either praised the initial ruling or lambasted it.

— Lobbyists working on abortion rights issues told PI today that they were largely unsurprised by the vote count even if the publication of the draft opinion caught groups somewhat off guard. While some policymakers immediately revved into action promising to vote on legislation to codify Roe, which does not have the votes to pass the Senate, there could be an increased focus on lobbying around other reproductive health policies, like access to contraceptives, federal family planning funding or funding to fight STDs, they said.

— Still, while abortion rights is among the most contentious political issues in the country, abortion does not attract nearly the level of lobbying expenditures as tech, pharma or financial services firms — some of which retain dozens of lobbying shops and spend millions to influence lawmakers each quarter — according to lobbying disclosures.

Planned Parenthood's national arm reported spending just over $100,000 on lobbying last quarter, and more than $800,000 in all of 2021, with another $243,000 in spending by several subsidiaries. The Center for Reproductive Rights, another one of the top abortion rights groups, reported spending $370,000 to lobby Washington in 2021, all of which was done in-house. Abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America spent just $110,000 on lobbying at the federal level last year, disclosures show. Of the main abortion rights groups and major anti-abortion groups, only Planned Parenthood retains outside lobbyists.

— Abortion rights advocates spend significantly more on influence efforts like grassroots activation and campaigns — just Monday, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and EMILY's List announced plans to collectively pour $150 million into organizing and advertising efforts ahead of November's midterms, an acknowledgment of how the Supreme Court is likely to formally rule this summer and in the wake of Republican legislatures across the country significantly curtailing abortion access. That's more than double their collective political expenditures during the 2020 cycle, according to data from OpenSecrets.

— Data from OpenSecrets also shows that anti-abortion backers approached an all-time high in lobbying spending last year, topping $1 million for the fifth straight year. One of the top spenders, the Susan B. Anthony List, reported dropping $290,000 into lobbying in the first quarter of 2022, its highest quarterly total ever. During the 2020 cycle, OpenSecrets data shows, the group doled out around $16 million on political spending.

— The next highest anti-abortion spender, the National Right to Life Committee, spent just $80,000 on federal lobbying last quarter, down from the six-figure sums it routinely dropped during the Obama administration and during the confirmation battle for now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. Barrett is among those who initially voted with the majority to overturn Roe.

Carol Tobias, Right to Life's president, said in an interview that overturning Roe would jump-start the real work for anti-abortion groups, which would then have to engage in "basically … 50 state battles" while fighting for the legislative filibuster to remain intact in the Senate in order to prevent bills that would codify abortion rights. The group also hopes that federal bills restricting abortions "would get a better hearing than they have under current leadership" in a post-Roe world, she said, adding that Right to Life doesn't expect to change its existing midterm strategy much.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

FIRST IN PI — NARRATIVE ADDS 4: Public affairs shop Narrative Strategies has hired Dave Dziok away from Koch Industries to become managing director for the firm, along with RNC creative director Kelly Johnson to expand Narrative's creative team. Dziok has spent over half a decade at Koch Industries as communications director, focused on reputation management, business and advocacy communications, and public affairs, and before that worked at Edelman and for former Rep. Michele Bachmann. He's the third addition to Narrative's senior leadership team this year.

— The firm also added two new associates: Sophie Rosen, who joins from the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Sydney Phillips, who was previously an intern at Narrative, as well as USDA and the House Agriculture Committee.

CONSUMER BANKERS TAP NEW CHIEF: "The Consumer Bankers Association has named Lindsey Johnson, president of the U.S. Mortgage Insurers, as its new president and chief executive," POLITICO's Kate Davidson reports.

— "Johnson, who has served as head of the mortgage insurers group since 2015, will take over for retiring CBA President Richard Hunt on July 5, the group said in an announcement Tuesday. Prior to joining USMI, Johnson served as a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers and was a Republican aide on the Senate Banking Committee."

— "Johnson will take the helm of the group at a time when the banking industry is facing intense competition from upstart technology companies and is bracing for an overhaul of anti-redlining rules under the Community Reinvestment Act — issues that are front and center for CBA's membership. CBA counts the country's biggest retail banks among its members, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, PNC and Capital One."

— "The group has been at the center of some of the banking industry's biggest battles with lawmakers and regulators under Hunt's leadership, most recently the fight over new IRS reporting requirements in the Biden administration's social spending bill. The provision, which drew opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and some House Democrats, was eventually removed" before Manchin's opposition tanked the package altogether.

FORMER FDA OFFICIAL TO PHILLIP MORRIS: Tobacco giant Philip Morris International has tapped Keagan Lenihan , who served as chief of staff at the FDA during the Trump administration, to lead the company's D.C. office, handling its U.S.-based external affairs efforts as FDA weighs which vaping products it will allow to stay on the market.

— Lenihan, who was an aide to former congressman and HHS Secretary Tom Price, will be vice president of government affairs and public policy for the company. She served as vice president of operations at medical device company Altoida before joining Philip Morris.

— "I am delighted to join forces with PMI in their mission to move away from cigarettes and help current smokers who otherwise would not quit switch to less harmful alternatives while ensuring we protect youth," Lenihan said in a statement, referencing the company's efforts to move toward products outside the tobacco and nicotine sectors. The company announced last year it had acquired over 74 percent of the market shares of British inhaler manufacturer Vectura.

 

A message from ACT|The App Association:

Open and fair competition in the digital marketplace drives our members' success, but the proposals in the Open App Markets Act will hinder our small business members' opportunity for continued prosperity. https://actonline.org/2022/04/04/give-small-developers-a-chance-not-higher-barriers-to-entry/

 

FLYING IN: Advocacy groups continue to flock to the Hill this week for some of their first in-person fly-ins since the pandemic began. On Monday, rural electric co-op leaders with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association kicked off their three-day event with more than 300 meetings planned with congressional offices.

— They'll push lawmakers for more renewable energy deployment in rural areas while lobbying for access to the "billions of dollars in investments the federal government is directing toward EV charging stations, cybersecurity and strengthened grid resilience" as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, POLITICO's Catherine Morehouse reported last week. They'll also press for passage of legislation that would allow them to refinance their USDA loans at lower interest rates without a prepayment penalty.

— The Adult Congenital Heart Association and The Mended Hearts Inc. will hold a joint, virtual fly-in on Wednesday to push for more access to and funding for congenital heart disease research, treatment and innovation. More than 250 advocates have nearly 200 scheduled meetings on the Hill, including with Reps. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Del. Eleanor Norton (D-D.C.).

TRUMP ORG., INAUGURAL COMMITTEE SETTLE HOTEL SUIT: "The Trump family business and President Donald J. Trump's 2017 inauguration committee have jointly agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the attorney general for the District of Columbia, who claimed that the Trump International Hotel in Washington illegally received excessive payments from the inauguration committee," The New York Times' Eric Lipton reports.

— "The settlement in the civil suit came with no admission of wrongdoing by the Trump Organization, the former president or the inaugural committee. But the payment amounted to nearly three-quarters of the $1.03 million that the lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Karl Racine of Washington, said had been paid to Mr. Trump's hotel by the nonprofit inaugural committee to rent out space at what Mr. Racine asserted was an above-market rate and then use it in part to host a private reception for Mr. Trump's children on the evening he was sworn in as president."

— "The settlement also came just days before the Trump family was slated to formally close on the sale of the Trump International Hotel," which the former president attributed the settlement to in part in a statement that denied the lawsuit's allegations.

— "Negotiations to settle the suit intensified earlier this year after a Superior Court judge in Washington set a trial date for September and rejected an effort by the Trump Organization to be removed from the lawsuit, making it likely that members of Mr. Trump's family were going to be called in open court to testify."

McDONALD'S SHUFFLES D.C. TEAM: McDonald's has promoted Sam Tatevosyan to senior director to lead the fast food giant's federal government relations team. That team now includes Jeremy Wilson-Simerman, who handles sustainability issues, and Anne Foley, who manages the PAC.

— The company now also has a team focused solely on multicultural stakeholders to develop relationships with key congressional groups like the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and Equality caucuses. Ashli Nelson will lead this team, which includes Alisa La, who came from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.

CORRECTION: Monday's Influence misrepresented the legal relationship between the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance and K&L Gates. K&L Gates does not represent the Alliance. PI regrets the error.

 

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Jobs Report

Daniel Feldman is rejoining Covington & Burling's Environmental, Social and Governance, Business and Human Rights, and Public Policy & Government Affairs practices as a partner later this month. He was previously chief of staff and counselor to special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry.

Tom Livingston is now vice president of government affairs at CSX Transportation, and Stephen Flippin has been named head of the D.C. office. Livingston has been head of state government and community affairs since 2019 and Flippin was previously head of federal affairs for the South.

— The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has hired Logan Tucker as director of communications and media relations. Tucker was most recently a senior consultant in Deloitte's government and public services group.

ROKK Solutions has added Ben Khoshbin as a senior account executive, Evelyn Swan as an account executive and Sofia Casamassa as an associate account executive. Khoshbin was previously director of business development at Echelon Insights and Swan was most recently deputy press secretary for Sen. Angus King (I-Maine).

Monica Matoush is joining Invariant. She previously was senior adviser to the undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, and is a House Armed Services alum.

Erik Peterson is now a senior manager for public policy at CrowdStrike. He most recently was a senior professional staff member for ranking member John Katko (R-N.Y.) at the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee.

— The National Association of Broadcasters hired Alex Siciliano as senior communications strategist, focusing on Congress and the FCC. He was most recently vice president of communications at The Petrizzo Group and is a Cory Gardner alum.

Emily Esrig has joined Full Picture as a senior account executive, working under veteran publicist Lauren Schwartz. She was most recently at Rogers & Cowan PMK.

Olivia Foster has joined Kasirer as an associate on the corporate and legislation team. She was formerly a procurement operations analyst at the New York Mayor's Office of Contract Services.

José Zayas is joining the American Council on Renewable Energy this month as executive vice president of policy and programs. Zayas was previously senior vice president of Eagle Creek Renewable Energy and served as executive director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office at the Energy Department.

Mae Stevens is now senior vice president at Banner Public Affairs. She was previously executive vice president at Signal Group and chair of the Signal Water Practice.

Howard Feldman is retiring from the American Petroleum Institute, where he served as senior counselor for policy, economics and regulatory affairs.

Matthew Polka will step down in July as the longtime head of cable trade group ACA Connects , with introduction to his yet-to-be-announced successor at the group's Annual Independent Show in Orlando, Fla., at the end of that month, per Morning Tech.

Benton Institute has named Revati Prasad as its new director of research and fellowships, Morning Tech reports.

New Joint Fundraisers

Jake Hagg Victory Fund (JAKE HAGG FOR CONGRESS, Help America Grow Greater PAC (HAGG PAC))
Moran Victory Fund (Nathaniel Moran for Congress, First in Texas PAC, NRCC)

New PACs

Equitable Georgia (Hybrid PAC)
Freedom North Carolina (Super PAC)
Help America Grow Greater PAC (HAGG PAC) (Leadership PAC: Jake Hagg)
Moving Broward Forward PAC (Super PAC)
New Southern Leaders PAC (PAC)
New Southern Majority IE PAC (Super PAC)
Savannah Dock Workers Coalition (PAC)
Turning Point PAC Inc. (PAC)
Vecino SUPER PAC (Super PAC)
World Wide Technology Holding Co., LLC Political Action Committee (WWT PAC) (PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Alston & Bird LLP: American Ambulance Association
Brody Group L.L.C. Public Affairs: Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: Carlow University
Dunkel Government Relations: Crown Media Family Networks
Dykema Gossett Pllc: City Of Ann Arbor
Haggerty Policy Solutions: Amgen
Hillnorth LLC: Kyndryl Inc
Hogan Lovells US LLP: American Rocky Mountaineer LLC
Hyperfocal Communications: Atlas Group
New Century Government Affairs (F/K/A Terrence C. Wolfe): New Century Partnership O/B/O Morselife Health Systems
Olson Advocacy Group LLC: Umh Properties, Inc.
Tarplin, Downs & Young, LLC: Medically Home
Tarplin, Downs & Young, LLC: Sas
The Ferguson Group: Mono County, Ca
Thegroup Dc, LLC: Tpg Cultural Exchange, LLC

New Lobbying Terminations

Brody Group L.L.C. Public Affairs: Austin Center For Manufacturing & Innovation
Brody Group L.L.C. Public Affairs: Oregon Institute Of Technology
Dinino Associates, LLC: Cornerstone Government Affairs Obo Microsoft Corporation

 

A message from ACT|The App Association:

When the largest sellers on the app stores, with multi-billion-dollar valuations, come to Congress with proposals to reshape the mobile marketplace to suit their needs, policymakers should be rather skeptical. We urge Congress not to sacrifice consumers' most important privacy and security protections–and with them, the competitive prospects of small app companies–in order to further advantage the app stores' biggest winners. https://actonline.org/2022/04/04/give-small-developers-a-chance-not-higher-barriers-to-entry/

 
 

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