WHO NUDGED MANCHIN BACK TO THE TABLE: "When Joe Manchin balked at the clean energy incentives in Democrats' expansive spending bill two weeks ago, the corporate C-suites and union boardrooms jumped into action ," POLITICO's Zack Colman, Josh Siegel and Kesley Tamborrino reported. — "With hundreds of billions of dollars of incentives for manufacturing, electric vehicles, nuclear power and carbon capturing technology hanging in the balance, executives from some of the nation's biggest companies and labor unions made their case to the Democratic West Virginia senator: The next generation of clean tech needed Washington's backing to take off." — "Clean energy manufacturing companies with plans to set up shop in Manchin's state helped orchestrate the 13-day effort to change his mind, more than 20 people involved in the effort told POLITICO — eventually helping to get his backing for the $369 billion in incentives in the newly dubbed Inflation Reduction Act, H.R. 5376 (117) ." — "That push — which two of the people said included a call from Bill Gates, whose venture capital firm has backed a West Virginia-based battery start-up — was taking place alongside a campaign by other senators along with economist and inflation hawk Larry Summers to convince Manchin of the merits of the bill." — "'It was across the board,' said National Wildlife Federation CEO Collin O'Mara, who according to other participants was central in organizing the campaign to persuade Manchin to restart talks. 'He heard from a wide range.'" THE NEXT FRONT ON CHIP LOBBYING: Even as Biden is readying to sign into law "more than $52 billion in 'incentives' designed to lure chipmakers to the U.S., an unusual alliance of industry lobbyists, hard-core China hawks and science advocates says the president's dream lacks a key ingredient — a small yet critical core of high-skilled workers," POLITICO's Brendan Bordelon and Eleanor Mueller report. — "It's a politically troubling irony: To achieve the long-sought goal of returning high-end manufacturing to the United States, the country must, paradoxically, attract more foreign workers. 'For high-tech industry in general — which of course, includes the chip industry — the workforce is a huge problem,' said Julia Phillips, a member of the National Science Board. 'It's almost a perfect storm.'" — "The chip industry has shared its anxiety over America's slipping STEM workforce with Washington, repeatedly asking Congress to make it easier for high-skilled talent to stay. But unlike their lobbying for subsidies and tax breaks — which has gotten downright pushy at times — they've done so very quietly. While chip lobbyists have spent months telling anyone who will listen why the $52 billion in financial incentives are a 'strategic imperative,' they've only recently been willing to discuss their immigration concerns on the record." — "In late July, nine major chip companies planned to send an open letter to congressional leadership warning that the shortage of high-skilled STEM workers 'has truly never been more acute' and urging lawmakers to 'enact much-needed green card reforms.' But the letter was pulled at the last minute, after some companies worried about wading into a tense immigration debate at the wrong time." AFP GOES ON THE AIR AGAINST RECONCILIATION: The Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity has launched an six-figure ad buy targeting the Senate's two key swing votes and three Democratic senators facing tough reelections in a bid to sink the party's newly expanded reconciliation bill. — The campaign began on Friday with digital and connected TV ads urging Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to vote against the package, which the group calls a "$739 billion tax hike that will raise prices & make American energy more expensive." AFP has since expanded the buy to include Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), all of whom are viewed as being among the chamber's most vulnerable Democrats in this fall's midterms. PAID LEAVE LEADER PIVOTS TO THE MIDTERMS: One of the top advocates for paid family and medical leave, Dawn Huckelbridge, is launching a hybrid PAC to back federal candidates who commit to enacting the policy after it was omitted once again from Democrats' reconciliation plans, Morning Shift reports. — "We realize that this is a political problem, and we need to build the political power to get it done," Huckelbridge told Eleanor on Sunday. "I want to ensure that every candidate has paid leave at the top of their agenda." — Huckelbridge, who also serves as the director of Paid Leave for All, is launching the PAC in solely a personal capacity after the broader campaign to wrap paid leave into the package failed. "This is something that has been an idea in progress for a long time, but really was cemented when we saw that this was not going to be happening this Congress and the reconciliation package," Huckelbridge said. — Since then, "it's been made clear that issues disproportionately impacting women and families have been sidelined time and time again. And we need to build a much stronger political presence." The PAC launched with a "major commitment," Huckelbridge said, from Colorado-based philanthropist Merle Chambers' Chambers Initiative.
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