Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Dem groups see windfall following repeal of Roe

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By Hailey Fuchs and Caitlin Oprysko

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With Daniel Lippman

DEM GROUPS SEE WINDFALL AFTER ABORTION RULING: The overturning of Roe v. Wade last week was long expected. But Democrats still saw an influx of cash in its aftermath, our Hailey Fuchs reports.

— Almost immediately after the Supreme Court announced its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the party's fundraising pleas arrived in supporters' inboxes. The DNC asked for donors to "Rush $7 now," and Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested $15 to "codify reproductive rights."

— Despite some flak about the party's appeals for cash that arrived so soon after the decision was announced, the push has appeared to be at least somewhat successful. ActBlue saw $20.5 million processed in the first 24 hours after the ruling and more than $51 million processed by late Tuesday morning (reported earlier by The New York Times). Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund reported a fortyfold increase in donations in the decision's wake relative to a typical day. More than half were new givers.

— "This is just the beginning, and we won't back down," Kelley Robinson , vice president of advocacy and organizing at Planned Parenthood and the executive director at Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. "When our health and rights are under attack — as they are right now like never before — Planned Parenthood supporters stand strong — both to support access to health care where we can provide it and strengthen our collective work to advocate, mobilize, and fight for control over our bodies, our lives, and our futures."

— The DSCC also marked its best day of online fundraising this cycle after the decision, per a committee aide, while the DCCC saw its largest day of digital fundraising this cycle. The Democratic Attorneys General Association immediately placed a five-figure digital ad buy when the decision was announced and raised five figures that day, according to Geoff Burgan, a DAGA spokesperson.

— On Friday, the Democracy Alliance, a major network of the party's biggest donors, re-upped its abortion giving recommendations to members. In bold, it recommended that "where possible, please prioritize 501(c)(4) giving, as those will be critical this election year." Among other groups, the alliance also suggested that its members support the National Network of Abortion Funds, which provides financial and other help to those seeking abortions.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. What's going on out there? Send your best leads, tips or other musings: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

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McCONNELL AIDE HEADS TO K STREET: Jennifer Kuskowski is leaving the Hill after a dozen years to become the head of government affairs for the Americas for Siemens' health care arm, Siemens Healthineers. Kuskowski has served as a top adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell since 2019, where she helped craft the health, commerce and education titles in five bipartisan Covid relief bills. She also helped negotiate the 2019 repeal of the medical device tax.

— Before that, Kuskowski served as the health policy director on the Senate Finance Committee and McConnell's legislative director and worked briefly at Venn Strategies and in the Peace Corps. At Siemens, she'll lead regional advocacy efforts in the U.S., Canada and in Latin America on behalf of Siemens Healthineers and Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company.

FULCRUM SIGNS THE CHAMBER: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has hired Fulcrum Public Affairs to lobby against bipartisan privacy legislation, according to disclosure filings obtained by PI. Fulcrum's Sasha Bernhard and Dana Thompson will work to stymie the proposal, which would limit the amount of data companies can collect and would allow users to sue over privacy violations four years after enactment.

— The Chamber has called the bill "unworkable" and urged lawmakers earlier this month to reject the emerging framework. And while it advanced last week to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, the bill has faced opposition from a pair of key Senate votes: Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Fulcrum will also lobby for the Chamber on other tech bills moving on the Hill, and on AI regulation, an issue on which the business lobby is increasingly focused.

— The Chamber is the fifth client Fulcrum has signed since May, which includes the information database ZoomInfo; the Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment , which provides English-language proficiency tests for health care workers; reproductive justice group In Our Own Voice; and the Lactation Network, which advocates for coverage of lactation services and care.

TRANSPARENCY NERDS REJOICE: As part of the Center for Responsive Politics' merger last year with the National Institute on Money in Politics, OpenSecrets, the organization formed from that union, has released new scorecards ranking the quality of lobbying disclosures in each state.

— The scorecards rank states based on four factors, per OpenSecrets: the quality of disclosure of lobbyist and client identities; the timeliness of disclosure; whether lobbyist compensation is disclosed; and how easily the public can access disclosed information. So who ranks the highest? Washington state leads the country, scoring a 19 out of 20 on the group's scale, followed closely by Colorado and Maine with 18 points out of 20.

— North Dakota's lobbying disclosures need the most work, according to the scorecards, notching just six points out of 20. West Virginia, Utah and South Dakota are next up, with seven points out of 20. None of those states require lobbyists to disclose how much they were paid for their work, but they're hardly alone — 17 states in total fall in that category, and OpenSecrets calls the lack of that data the "number one roadblock to fuller disclosure in those states, and to being able to see the full picture of lobbying across the country."

— Even so, data from a report released last week by OpenSecrets shows that spending on lobbying at the state level hit a new high last year — even when adjusted for inflation, an acknowledgment that amid partisan gridlock in D.C., state capitals are viewed more and more as key venues for shaping policy.

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A NEW DAY FOR SAUDI LOBBYISTS?: As President Joe Biden prepares for his first trip to Saudi Arabia while in office, K Street "already appears to be making moves amid signs that the oil-rich kingdom is coming in from the cold with a White House that once vowed to make it a pariah," Middle East Eye's Sean Mathews reports.

— "Lobbying and PR firm BGR Group signed a $2.15mn contract on 25 May to represent the Saudi government-backed Muslim World League , documents show. According to US government filings submitted by BGR and reviewed by Middle East Eye, the firm will facilitate 'communications with the US media, relevant officials and decision makers, non-government organizations and other individuals within the US.'"

— "The deal has raised eyebrows on the DC circuit, in part because BGR was one of three companies along with Harbour Group and Glover Park which dropped Saudi Arabia as a client in the wake of the killing of Washington Post and Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi."

— "Also in May, lobbying firm Qorvis signed a new three-month contract worth $750,000 to provide 'public relations services to the Human Rights Commission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (through the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University),' documents show. Yet, BGR stands out because it was one of the few firms that actually severed ties with the kingdom, or entities linked to it such as the League, around the time of the Khashoggi killing."

— "The benefits of the visit are more likely to be felt by firms looking to manage the reputational risk of having Saudi Arabia as a client. 'The trip totally affects the calculus of lobbyists. Biden going and meeting with MBS draws a line in the sand on the potential for reputational risk,' said one well-connected DC-based consultant to a Gulf country on condition of anonymity. 'The thinking will be "the president has been, [so] Saudi Arabia is OK to have as a client."'"

SHUMAKER ADDS MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: Hagir Elawad has joined Shumaker Advisors as a senior vice president of federal affairs, giving the Ohio and Florida-centric public affairs firm an expert on Middle East and Northern Africa affairs as it expands its lobbying practice.

— Elawad most recently served as a senior policy adviser at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and before that founded UAE Strategies, where she was a senior adviser to the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the U.S. She also spent more than a decade working in the Emirati Embassy in Washington, including as the embassy's director of legislative affairs and director of political-military affairs, working on export controls and sanctions issues, as well as defense, aerospace, energy and human rights issues.

 

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Jobs Report

Briget Polichene announced she will retire as chief executive of the Institute of International Bankers at the end of the year.

— The American Hotel & Lodging Association has hired Leann Paradise as vice president of political and member engagement, Haleigh Hildebrand as senior director of government and political affairs and Bianca Castillo as state and local government affairs coordinator. Paradise was previously a senior associate for grassroots at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Hildebrand was previously assistant political director at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

— Former Rep. John Ratcliffe is joining American Global Strategies as a senior adviser. Ratcliffe previously served as Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration, and will work with clients across the defense, aerospace, technology, cybersecurity, and private equity sectors.

Walt Cronkite is now a public relations manager at Latham & Watkins. He most recently was a director at FTI Consulting and is a former CBS News congressional producer.

Christopher Hoff has joined Microsoft to work on the global privacy and regulatory affairs team. He most recently was deputy assistant secretary for services at the Commerce Department.

— Miami-Dade County school board member Lubby Navarro has been elected president of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

Kiran Malone is now vice president of government and industry affairs at Anterix. She previously was senior director of federal government affairs at Consumers Energy.

Stephanie Strategos Polis is now vice president of communications at the Plastics Industry Association. She previously was assistant vice president of public affairs for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

Christopher Gaspar has joined the BAE Systems government relations team as a director of legislative affairs. He most recently was director of legislative affairs at Textron and is a Dianne Feinstein and Jim Moran alum.

Emily Cummings is now senior manager for communications on KKR's public affairs team. She most recently was senior associate at Teneo.

Jessica DeLoach is now senior communications manager at the Partnership for Public Service. She previously was campaign manager for Anna Beth Gorman's Arkansas secretary of state campaign.

Caylie Milazzo and Halley Burnside are now research associates for Ervin Graves Strategy Group . Milazzo previously was a research assistant at the Kinder Institute of Constitutional Democracy. Burnside is a second-year grad student at Carnegie Mellon University.

 

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New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

Old Breed PAC (Leadership PAC: Rich McCormick)
Save Our Senate PAC (Super PAC)
Stand for New York Committee (Super PAC)
YellowDog Democrat Defense League (YDDDL) (Super PAC)

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New Lobbying Registrations

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Finthrive, Inc.
Bgr Government Affairs: Amchams Of Asia Pacific
Bgr Government Affairs: Catholic Health
Bgr Government Affairs: Covanta Holding Corporation
Bgr Government Affairs: Oros
Bgr Government Affairs: Sc Health Spv, LLC
Bgr Government Affairs: Strider Technologies, Inc.
Bgr Government Affairs: World Dog Alliance (Hong Kong) Limited
Bluepoint Dc: U.S. Travel Association
Capitol Counsel LLC: Healing Advocacy Fund
Capitol Decisions, Inc.: Sisecam Chemicals Resources LLC
Capitol Point Group, LLC: Meridiam Infrastructure
Clark Hill, Plc: Polyvision
Conaway Graves Group, LLC: Opti-Harvest
Holland & Knight LLP: Samsung Sdi America, Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: Kinetic Pressure Control Limited
Maynor & Stiers, LLC: Quantum Research International, Inc.
National Thoroughbred Racing Association: National Thoroughbred Racing Association
The Cormac Group, LLC: Association Of Floral Importers Of Florida
Washington2 Advocates: Rebuild Local News Coalition/The Groundtruth Project
Bgr Government Affairs: African Growth Corporation
Bgr Government Affairs: Fortinet, Inc.
Bgr Government Affairs: Trio Health Regulatory Advisory Group, LLC
Horizon Government Affairs: Covermymeds

 

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