| | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Consumers for Digital Progress | With help from Megan Wilson OPEN SOCIETY RAMPS UP LOBBYING: After several years of anemic spending, lobbying outlays by the advocacy arm of George Soros’ Open Society network began to pick back up over the first half of this year, according to reports filed for last week’s lobbying disclosure deadline. — The Open Society Policy Center reported dropping $8.4 million on federal lobbying from April through June. That’s up from the nearly $1.6 million the group spent in the first quarter of 2023, but both numbers are a fraction of the organization’s all-time record of $24.1 million during the fourth quarter of 2019. — Up until this year, Open Society Policy Center hadn’t had any in-house registered lobbyists since 2020, relying only on its outside firms the Raben Group and NVG, to whom it paid between $10,000 and $80,000 each quarter before parting ways in 2022 and 2021, respectively. — A spokesperson for the nonprofit, which brought in $196 million from a single anonymous donor in 2021, according to its most recent available tax filings, maintained that the group’s “lobbying for this quarter is comparable to our level of activity in the past,” and centered on a number of issues. — “The Open Society Policy Center is proud to stand with our grantees to advance voting rights and reproductive justice, to curb racial discrimination, and to protect the rights of trans people, immigrants, and so many others whose dignity and rights are under attack and being denied by new laws,” the spokesperson said, adding that Open Society Policy Center had given the ACLU a $5 million grant in furtherance of those priorities, and has worked to ensure the Inflation Reduction Act and other spending bills are implemented equitably, pushed for reforms to U.S. security assistance and military sales and antisemitism. THAT WAS QUICK: Shuwanza Goff is headed back to the White House as President Joe Biden’s top liaison to Capitol Hill, just six months after she left the administration to join the federal government relations team at Cornerstone Government Affairs, Biden announced today. — Goff had previously served as the president’s top emissary to the House, where she worked before that for former then-House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. She’ll succeed Louisa Terrell in the role of White House legislative affairs director. — Goff never registered to lobby while at Cornerstone, and the firm did not respond to an inquiry from PI about which of its clients she worked with, but the firm’s client roster includes companies like Google, the Cherokee Nation, Boeing, Samsung Semiconductor, Valero and CoBank. Happy Monday and Send K Street gossip: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from Consumers for Digital Progress: Digital assets are here to stay.
Congress: Act now to create a comprehensive market structure for digital assets. | | | U.S. TRAVEL SQUEEZES SENATE ON FAA BILL: The travel industry’s top trade group is warning senators not to leave town for their monthlong August recess without advancing the chamber’s FAA reauthorization package out of committee, a prospect that seems increasingly likely with lawmakers still at an impasse over pilot training rules, Morning Transportation reports. — “While the Senate may be eager to fly home to start their August recess, millions of Americans have missed trips and lost time with family and friends this summer due to delays and cancellations caused by years of government inattention,” U.S. Travel Association chief Geoff Freeman said in a statement. — “The whole of the U.S. economy pays a price when a trip is delayed—or avoided entirely due to air travel hassles,” Freeman continued, demanding that the Senate Commerce Committee put its bill forward this week. “American travelers cannot wait any longer for Congress to fix the numerous, systemic issues that have plagued the U.S. air travel system and constrained economic growth.” — A committee markup, of course, won’t have any immediate impact on the travel disruptions that have plagued the sector’s post-pandemic rebound. But the current FAA reauthorization expires at the end of September, making an already likely extension all but certain given the bill will then head to conference committee with the House. INSURERS SNAG CMS OFFICIAL FOR NEW POST: AHIP, the nation’s largest insurance advocacy group, hired LaShawn McIver to serve as chief health equity officer — a new role at the organization meant to pushing equitable access to health coverage for those in underrepresented and medically underserved communities. — McIver most recently served as the director of the Office of Minority Health at CMS, but previously spent almost a decade leading advocacy efforts for the American Diabetes Association and worked as a HIV/AIDS fellow for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Center for Policy Analysis and Research. — “Too many Americans have faced persistent and detrimental health inequity for too long, and we must work to accelerate our efforts and close health equity gaps faster,” said AHIP CEO Matt Eyles in a statement about her hire. FACING THE MUSIC: “House Republicans are about to hand the cryptocurrency lobby a big win via legislation that would set up special rules for trading digital assets. There’s just one problem,” POLITICO’s Eleanor Mueller reports. — “A growing and bipartisan group of senators … is rallying behind a crackdown that crypto firms hate, following a wave of scandals and fears that digital currency is ripe for criminal abuse. They want to impose new safeguards designed to root out crypto’s use in money laundering.” — “Even allies like Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) — dubbed the Senate’s ‘crypto queen’ — are warning that the industry needs to accept the emerging political reality. ‘If we can get this part of it addressed from the very beginning, before the regulatory framework is passed, then we’ve taken that concern off the table,’ Lummis said in an interview. ‘And we can actually talk about digital assets in terms of how to regulate.’” — “The divide in Congress illustrates a new political challenge for crypto exchanges and token providers. They made big advances in winning over Washington in recent years, and that lobbying campaign is helping drive a major victory in the GOP House.” — “But recent revelations of widespread mismanagement and fraud, long-running concerns about crypto’s use to facilitate criminal transactions and the lack of clear economic benefits have left a critical mass of lawmakers unwilling to grant the industry its legislative wish-list scot-free.”
| | | | A message from Consumers for Digital Progress:   | | | ROS-LEHTINEN’S PERSONAL CRUSADE: The Washington Post’s Jesús Rodríguez has a profile out today on Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the former Republican congresswoman-turned-lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, whose son Rodrigo is transgender and runs the National Center for Transgender Equality. The former congresswoman has sought to use her son’s cause to privately change the minds of fellow Republicans introducing and voting for a cascade of anti-transgender rights legislation. — “‘What do you want for your child, do you want your child to be happy?’ Ileana says she asks them. ‘And if this is how your child is happy, and he’s not harming anyone, is leading a productive life — what is the harm in love and acceptance and thinking that every person that you see, that’s somebody’s family?’” — The former congresswoman and her son “hope that social proximity, that personal touch, will eventually persuade Republicans on issues relating to transgender people” — even as she lobbies for clients and donates to lawmakers whose records on transgender issues would seem to run counter to her advocacy. FINTECH GROUPS PUSH BACK ON SENATE BILL: Trade groups representing fintech startups and payment platforms are crying foul over a bipartisan Senate bill that would hem in the Biden administration’s push to allow more fintechs to issue government-backed small-business loans. — In a letter to Senate Small Business Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and ranking member Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) this morning, the Electronic Transactions Association, Financial Technology Association, Innovative Lending Platform Association and the Small Business Finance Association expressed their “deep” concerns about legislation approved by the Small Business panel last week aimed at slowing fintech firms’ entry into the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) loan program. — The Biden administration had been pushing for the expansion, arguing it will increase access to capital among underserved small businesses, but lawmakers and traditional banks have pushed back on the proposal, citing the dearth of existing federal guardrails for fintechs. FLYING IN: Independent mortgage brokers were on the Hill late last week as part of a fly-in hosted by the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts, which represents the wholesale mortgage industry. Leaders with the group heard from Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.), House Financial Services staffer Ed Skala and HUD officials and pushed for a pair of bills that would create a mortgage insurance program for first responders and educators who are first-time home buyers and restrict the practice of “trigger leads” by credit bureaus. — The trade group also hosted a reception for lawmakers that drew House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Reps. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), and Jim Himes (D-Conn.). CORRECTION: Due to incorrect information filed to the Secretary of the Senate, an earlier version of Influence’s rankings of the biggest lobbying contracts of the second quarter included one entity that should not have been on it. The filing has been amended. The correct rankings are below: BIGGEST CONTRACTS:
- Carbonleaf LLC: Industrial Energy Consumers of America ($3.5 million)
- Tributary LLP: HR Policy Association ($990,000)
- Covington & Burling: Qualcomm Incorporated ($970,000)
- Sidley Austin: Illumina, Inc. ($750,000)
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Gila River Indian Community ($710,000)
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Partnership to Address Global Emissions, Inc. ($640,000)
- Actum I, LLC: Advanced Environmental Monitoring Holdings (AEMH) ($615,000)
- Kamins Consulting: Victims of Terrorism - East Africa ($450,000) (tie)
- McGuireWoods Consulting: Victims of Terrorism - East Africa ($450,000) (tie)
- Monument Advocacy: Victims of Terrorism - East Africa ($450,000) (tie)
- Morris J. Amitay, PC: Victims of Terrorism - East Africa ($450,000) (tie)
| | — Charlotte Savercool has joined Aurora Innovation to focus on federal policymaking for autonomous trucks and passenger vehicles. She previously served as vice president for government affairs for the National Venture Capital Association and is a House Energy and Commerce alum. — Kaitlin Kirshner is now communications and public affairs director at Duke Energy. She previously was senior manager of policy communications at Amazon Web Services. — Jason Somensatto is joining Chainalysis as head of policy for North America. He previously was an adviser to CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam. — Trey Hodgkins has joined Phoenix Strategies as a senior vice president. He most recently founded his own firm, Hodgkins Consulting, and is a TechAmerica and Information Technology Industry Council alum. — Katherine Goldstuck joined Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid as a legislative assistant. She’s a recent college grad and is a Cheri Beasley Senate campaign and Senate Energy and Natural Resources alum. — Bradford Kelley has joined Littler as a shareholder in D.C. He was previously chief counsel to EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling.
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| | | America Future Super Pac 2024 (Super PAC)
Cannabis Patients for the Right to Bear Arms (PAC)
Dakota Patriot PAC LLC (PAC)
MONTANA VALUES FOR AMERICA, INC. (Super PAC)
People First (Super PAC)
Uplift Our Future (Super PAC)
Women for Equality PAC (WEPAC) (PAC)
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE GOLDEN STATE POLITICAL ARENA: YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST … Add California Playbook to your daily reading to keep up with the latest political news and policy moves from deep inside the power centers at the heart of the world’s fourth largest economy. Authors Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner take you inside the state Capitol and governor's mansion in Sacramento, the mayor’s office and City Council and Los Angeles, and the most influential rooms in Silicon Valley and deliver buzzy scoops and behind-the-scenes details that you simply will not get anywhere else. Subscribe today and stay ahead of the game! | | | | | | | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | | Alycia Farrell: J.A. Green And Company On Behalf Of Primer Ai
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: American Healthy Alternatives Association, Inc.
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Ozinga Ready Made Concrete, Inc.
Bracewell LLP: Rinnai America Corporation
Bracewell LLP: Spotsee
Broydrick & Associates: Landmark Healthcare Facilities, LLC
Centrus Energy Corp.: Centrus Energy Corp
Cj Lake, LLC: Husch Blackwell Strategies (On Behalf Of San Diego Community Power)
Cj Lake, LLC: Jph Law Firm (On Behalf Of Agricultural Coalition For Immigration Reform)
Cj Lake, LLC: Jph Law Firm (On Behalf Of H-2B Workforce Coalition)
Fs Vector: Mx Technologies Inc.
Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Anfield Energy, Inc.
Husch Blackwell Strategies: Alameda County Transportation Commission
Husch Blackwell Strategies: Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC
Jtr Strategies LLC: Aura Network Systems
Jtr Strategies LLC: Jsx
Lester Health Law Pllc: Magnolia Medical Technologies
Ms. Michelle Nawar: The Immigration Hub LLC
Mz Advising, LLC: Private Tech Inc.
Nexxus Consulting, LLC: Kb Home
O’Keeffe Shahmoradi Strategies, LLC: Atrium Health
Patino Brewster & Partners, LLC: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld On Behalf Of Arajet, S.A.(Fka Agshf Obo Aerojet)
Poplicus Incorporated D/B/A Govini: Poplicus Incorporated D/B/A Govini
Sbl Strategies, LLC: Zipline International, Inc.
Sinha Associates LLC: The Outpost
Summit Strategies Government Affairs LLC: City Of Salem
Summit Strategies Government Affairs LLC: Renewable Northwest
The Ferguson Group: Ward And Smith On Behalf Of Baldhead Island, Nc
Thorsen French Advocacy LLC: Healthcare Distribution Alliance
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | | Congressional Partners: Foundcare
Congressional Partners: Jarvis Christian University
Rubicon Advisors, LLC: Conscious Discipline
Subject Matter: Pac-12 Enterprises LLC
Summit Strategies Government Affairs LLC: Quikrete (Fka U.S. Pipe)
Tremont Strategies Group LLC (F/K/A Ads Ventures): Unifire
Tremont Strategies Group LLC (F/K/A Ads Ventures): Year Up
| | | | A message from Consumers for Digital Progress: The challenge for the U.S. is to regulate digital assets properly by protecting consumers, nurturing innovation, and strengthening our tech-innovation leadership. The time is now for Congress to take the lead with legislation that creates a clear market structure for digital assets. Act now and help deliver a future of unlimited possibilities. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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