With help from Daniel Lippman PIONEER ADDS RULES AIDE: Kim Corbin has left the Hill after nearly a decade and a half to join the consulting firm Pioneer Public Affairs as a partner. Most recently, she served as senior adviser for health policy to House Rules Chair Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), where she assisted in the successful effort by McGovern and others to call for the White House to convene the second ever conference on hunger, nutrition and health. — Before that, she was staff director of the U.S. Joint Economic Committee under Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). She also spent time working for Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on the Senate Finance Committee, former Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), now-House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and now-Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) — Pioneer was formed last year by former Democratic Senate aides in a bid to capitalize on an expected flood of clean energy policies from the Biden administration, and Corbin has already helped the firm bring on the hunger nonprofit Feeding America as a client. "My work in Congress has been about getting results and lifting up those issues traditionally overlooked in the policymaking process," she said in a statement, adding that Pioneer's "commitment to creating a healthier, more sustainable future will allow me to continue doing that work." Good afternoon and welcome to PI, where we're accepting your best guesses for the theme of Kourtney Kardashian's nuptials in Portofino this past weekend. If you don't know what any of that means, consider yourself lucky and send some lobbying tips instead: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
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FLYING IN: The National Utility Contractors Association is kicking off its fly-in today, which will culminate in virtual and in-person meetings with lawmakers and their staffs to discuss oversight of the new infrastructure law, push for more resources to replace lead pipes and discuss workforce development issues and private activity bond legislation. — The group will meet in person with Reps. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Charlie Crist (R-Fla.), Scott Franklin (R-Fla.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) or their staff, while members are set to meet virtually with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) Attendees are also scheduled to meet with Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and staff of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. — Financial planners from Finseca are in town this week for the trade group's advocacy summit and fly-in, with members set to hit the Hill on Tuesday to discuss tax, retirement and small business issues, and push for lawmakers to pass retirement legislation this year. Finseca members are set to meet with McConnell and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), in addition to staff-level meetings with a number of other lawmakers. — An agenda posted online shows the group is also slated to hear from one of its lobbyists, Ricchetti Inc.'s Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of White House adviser Steve Ricchetti, "to understand what didn't happen in 2021 and why, what is at play today given the contents of the Greenbook, and how you can help you clients understand and successfully navigate the current planning environment," according to the event listing. HOW LIVE NATION SUBSIDIARIES SCORED MILLIONS IN INDEPENDENT VENUES AID: "In the early months of the pandemic, as lawmakers toiled on an aid package for shuttered concert halls and other performance venues, a major company lobbied to be included in the relief. Live Nation Entertainment — the corporate parent of Ticketmaster and a dominant force in the entertainment industry — urged Democrats and Republicans in Congress to let it be directly eligible for the $15 billion emergency relief program," five people familiar told The Washington Post's Yeganeh Torbati and Tony Romm. — Though lawmakers ultimately "wrote the law to exclude public companies, as well as firms they own or control," guidelines "set by Congress and the Small Business Administration, which disbursed the funds, allowed several companies in which Live Nation has significant investments to receive grants: Nearly $19 million went to firms listed as subsidiaries on Live Nation's 2022 securities filings or in which Live Nation has a substantial, though not majority, ownership stake, according to a Washington Post review of Securities and Exchange Commission filings, state corporate documents and SBA data, as well as interviews with executives at companies that received grants. The grants do not appear to have violated the law or any rules set by the SBA." — "Nevertheless, the revelation demonstrates how a large company with stakes in hundreds of smaller businesses could, while following the rules, reap a benefit that some legislators didn't want. And it shows that how agencies implement a law can be just as important as the way it is written by Congress. … Live Nation as a parent company did not directly receive any money from the program, but the government relief to its subsidiaries still protected its investments and improved its long-term outlook, however slightly." — The Post reports that as negotiations on relief for venues were taking place, "Live Nation ramped up its lobbying in the fall of 2020, seeking to make it easier for the company — and its many subsidiaries, large and small — to access the money, one of the sources said. They specifically opposed language barring aid to publicly traded companies, according to a congressional aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations." — "The amount that Live Nation spent on lobbying the federal government on a variety of issues, including the grants, more than doubled in 2020 from the prior year to more than $1 million, and increased again in 2021, according to a tally by OpenSecrets, a nonprofit group that tracks the influence of money in politics." — The company told the paper in a statement that its efforts were meant to save jobs, adding that Live Nation "still supported the bill for the good of the industry" even when its lobbying fell short. BANKMAN-FRIED VAULTS TO SECOND-BIGGEST DONOR: "Crypto billionaire Samuel Bankman-Fried poured $16 million into super PACs in April , making him one of the top donors to outside groups as the primaries get into full swing," Bloomberg's Bill Allison reports. — "Bankman-Fried gave $10 million to Protect Our Future, a super PAC that says it's supporting candidates who can help prevent the next pandemic. … The House Majority PAC , the super political action committee of House Democrats, counted the CEO of crypto exchange FTX as its biggest donor in April. Bankman-Fried gave it $6 million of the $9.8 million it raised. The PAC ended April with $59.8 million in the bank after spending $2.8 million. The super PAC, which has ties to Speaker Nancy Pelosi , plans to spend more than $100 million in a bid to protect the Democrats' narrow five-seat House majority." — The donations bring Bankman-Fried's "total support for super PACs in the current election cycle to $31.5 million, among the top tier of donors. He's well behind George Soros, who put $125 million into Democracy PAC II, a committee he uses to distribute funds to other groups. Bankman-Fried has moved into second place ahead of Republican donor Richard Uihlein, who gave $1 million to the super PAC arm of the Club for Growth in April, bringing his total donations to just less than $31.5 million, according to OpenSecrets." (For comparison, "Bankman-Fried ranked 47th among donors to outside groups" in 2020, Allison writes.) KUSHNER, MNUCHIN TRAVEL RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT GULF INVESTORS: A New York Times report this month disclosing millions of dollars in investments from one of Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth funds in firms run by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and presidential son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner has prompted new ethics concerns, as "an examination of the two men's travels toward the end of the Trump presidency raises other questions about whether they sought to exploit official relationships with foreign leaders for private business interests," the Times' Kate Kelly and David Kirkpatrick write. — "In the weeks after the election, Mr. Kushner made three trips to the Middle East, the last for a Jan. 5 summit in Saudi Arabia with leaders of the Gulf monarchies. Mr. Mnuchin that day began a tour through the region that was planned to include private meetings with the heads of the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait — all future investors. (He cut it short after the Capitol riot, dropping the Kuwait stop and, in Saudi Arabia, meeting only with the finance minister.)" — "The path from public service to private investing is well trod by members of both parties. The two Treasury secretaries under President Barack Obama later went to Wall Street. But Mr. Kushner and Mr. Mnuchin stand out, ethics experts said, for the speed of their pivots and for the sums they raised from foreign rulers they had recently dealt with on behalf of the United States."
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— Robert Yeakel has joined food delivery company DoorDash as manager of federal government relations. He most recently was vice president of government relations for the National Grocers Association , and is a House Budget alum. — Bethany Williams has joined Adfero as senior vice president, leading the firm's energy practice and developing public affairs campaigns for clients across various industries. She was previously director of media relations at the American Petroleum Institute. — Americans for Prosperity has added Dominic Nordel and Will Burger to its government affairs team as federal liaisons. Nordel was most recently a legislative assistant for Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and Burger was previously director of operations and appropriations policy adviser to former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) — Danny Strauss is the new managing director at Grayling, the global comms firm. He was most recently senior vice president at Teneo and is an alum of Ketchum D.C. — Steve Shur has joined Hertz as vice president of government affairs for EV strategy. He previously spent nearly a decade as president of the Travel Technology Association. — Prism Group has hired Bryce Conti as a senior associate for graphic and digital design and Grace Moster as an associate for communications and media affairs. The firm also promoted Casey Elliott to senior director for communications and media affairs, Ashlyn Roberts to senior manager for government affairs, Maggie Ambrose and Alexis D'Amato to managers and Olivia Lucanie to senior associate. — Kandie Stroud has joined the Credit Union National Association as director of media relations. She has been president of boutique communications firm Stroud & Associates and is a DNC and CNN alum. — Anita Rajan is now general director of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association's Washington office. She was manager of government affairs at Mitsubishi Motors R&D of America Inc. — Robert Etter and Max Mandich are joining Global Counsel. Etter is an adviser and most recently was associate director for legislative affairs for the White House Office of Management and Budget. Mandich is a senior associate in the financial services practice and most recently was a policy adviser for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). — Jorge Martínez is now Hispanic outreach strategist and Spanish spokesperson for America First Policy Institute. He's a GOP PR/comms veteran and George W. Bush Justice Department alum. — Gabby Richards is now director of federal advocacy communications at Planned Parenthood. She was at BerlinRosen and is a Mary Gay Scanlon alum. — Global Situation Room is adding Kat Maramba as vice president of media engagement, Madison Lasaz as a senior account manager, Kasey Henderson as an account manager, Terry Gaines as an account supervisor, Mahnoor Haq as a communications associate and Cole Beaty as a research assistant.
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