HOW THE (HEMP) SAUSAGE GETS MADE: “When two senators sponsored a bill that would cut red tape for farmers who grow hemp, industry insiders were thrilled but not surprised. The reason: They had been intimately involved in crafting the legislation themselves,” per Daniel and our Holly Otterbein. — “The bipartisan bill, which was introduced in March by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), would exempt industrial hemp farmers from certain background checks, testing guidelines and sampling rules” and which came on the heels of complaints from industry officials following legal hemp’s rocky rollout over the past five years. — “Interviews with six hemp advocates, company officials and Senate aides reveal that hemp lobbyists and businesses brought the original idea for the legislation to Tester’s office. An email obtained by POLITICO also shows that in February they got a word-for-word early look at the bill that the two senators would go on to introduce weeks later.” Aides for Tester argued the process for crafting the bill “was more nuanced and deliberative than the email suggests,” Daniel and Holly write. — “Depending on one’s vantage point, the process by which the Industrial Hemp Act of 2023 was put together resembles a thoughtful process or government at its quintessential unseemliness. Either way, it underscores how Congress often turns to self-interested outsiders for help understanding arcane issues and illustrates the blurry line between relying on industry expertise and letting those industry forces craft their own regulations.” FIRST IN PI — AFP PUSHES INTO BLUE STATES: Koch-funded advocacy group Americans for Prosperity is expanding its footprint into a handful of blue states for the first time to give the group a nationwide presence ahead of next year’s elections. AFP has chapters in around three dozen states already, but has tapped Heather Andrews and Ross Connolly to spearhead new pushes on the West Coast and into New England, respectively. — Andrews and Connolly will give the organization an active presence in California, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland — several traditionally blue states in which House Republicans will be defending seats that helped net them control of the chamber in last year’s midterms. — “As AFP prepares to activate more Americans than ever before, we are expanding our footprint nationwide so that we can reconnect Americans to the foundational principles of freedom, opportunity and prosperity,” Emily Seidel, the group’s chief executive, said in a statement, adding that the expansion “marks a new era at AFP.” ANNALS OF DARK MONEY: “When President Joe Biden nominated Gigi Sohn to serve on the Federal Communications Commission, the longtime consumer advocate expected to face criticism over her desire to expand free internet access and improve competition among broadband providers,” The Associated Press’ Trenton Daniel reports. — “Instead, Sohn found herself the target of an aggressive campaign funded by a conservative group that doesn’t have to disclose its donors. The American Accountability Foundation called Sohn too partisan, anti-police and soft on sex trafficking. The attacks landed — to the point that even some Democrats abandoned her. Sohn withdrew her nomination, ditching her fight for a five-year term as an FCC commissioner.” — The drawn out battle over her nomination “is the latest example of how organizations with political and financial agendas have been able to sway public opinion by deploying donations that are impossible to trace. It is also emblematic of how nominees’ missteps — even on matters wholly unrelated to their prospective jobs — can become fodder for attacks.” — The total cost of AAF’s campaign against Sohn is unknown, and the group’s executive director Tom Jones “declined to name the organization’s donors, noting only that they are ‘G-d fearing Patriots!’” — But two groups alone — AAF and One Country Project, a dark money group led by former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp — spent at least $420,000 trying to sink Sohn’s nomination, which also faced opposition from business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and, more unusually, the National Fraternal Order of Police. — “The AAF dished out more than $320,000 on Facebook advertising, according to a review of advertising data by the AP. Such ads blasted Sohn over her connections to two liberal groups and suggested she opposed stiffening sex-trafficking laws. An ad alleged she was a ‘complete political ideologue.’” — Sohn is not the group’s first target. AAF “has led similar campaigns against other nominees who later withdrew from such posts as Federal Aviation Administration administrator, vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the comptroller of the currency.” ALSO FLYING IN: IHRSA, The Global Health & Fitness Association, will kick off its first fly-in in a decade this week. The trade group is bringing more than 50 industry executives to town to meet with Hill staff as well as NGOs and the Biden administration tomorrow and Wednesday. — Executives are scheduled to meet with the offices of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Reps. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), to push for legislation to make fitness expenses eligible for FSA/HSA plans. — The American Land Title Association, which represents the land title industry, kicks off its annual fly-in today. Members have around 200 meetings slated with members of Congress or their staff on Wednesday, during which they’ll be pushing for passage of legislation that would authorize remote online notarizations and discuss issues related to unregulated title insurance alternatives outlined in equitable housing finance plans. — More than four dozen advocates with the National Marrow Donor Program will be on the Hill tomorrow to lobby for legislation that would allow for bone marrow or stem cell donors to take leave in connection with their donation obligations. — The National Association of Towns and Townships will also be on the Hill this week to meet with House members and senators from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin about a range of issues including cybersecurity, transportation, broadband, the farm bill, taxes and more. They’ll also hear from administration officials like White House infrastructure adviser Ryan Berni and lawmakers including House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.).
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