Sinema aide heading downtown

Presented by Senior Living Advocacy – Tell Our Stories: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street.

Feb 23, 2022 View in browser   By Caitlin Oprysko Presented by Senior Living Advocacy – Tell Our Stories With Daniel Lippman   ROKK NABS SINEMA COMMS DIRECTOR: John LaBombard is leaving the Hill after 15 years to join the public affairs firm ROKK Solutions as senior vice president. LaBombard is currently communications director for Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), a critical swing vote — and thus a key target for lobbying on any number of legislative agenda items — in the evenly divided Senate, and he previously worked for Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and former Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri. — "I've been able to watch, you know, decision making and policymaking and especially public affairs and communications work from kind of the inside of the Senate," LaBombard said in an interview, adding that he's "looking forward to helping ROKK's clients with strategies to better tell their stories and communicate with those kinds of decision makers." — He insisted that the timing of his departure wasn't the result of the firestorm his boss has faced in the last year as a chief holdout for several Democratic wishlist items, and argued that his time working for red-state Democrats like Sinema has prepared him well to advise private-sector clients. "It's not always quite as challenging when you're communicating to one single audience … who are a little bit more uniform in their views," LaBombard told PI. "There's just not always that need to hustle and communicate your priorities and your views and your vision to your constituents, so that's what I think has … kind of sharpened my work over the years." — "In these states, typically, any decision you make will make a group of people unhappy. So you have to kind of find aggressive, creative, interesting ways to make sure that your constituents are up to date on the lawmakers' priorities and how they're approaching their work," he added. — LaBombard is one of just a handful of former Sinema aides who have headed downtown, a club that shrinks further when looking at her Senate staff. Kate Gonzales , a former policy adviser in the senator's office, left the Hill last spring to join Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Alyssa Marois, who was a legislative director in Sinema's House office, now lobbies for HSBC North America. — Tom Clees, who briefly served in Sinema's House office and then the office of Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) is now vice president of federal public policy for the Recording Industry Association of America. Sinema's onetime House chief of staff, JoDee Winterhof, is now senior vice president for policy and political affairs at the Human Rights Campaign, though she's not registered to lobby. Justin Unga , a former communications director for Sinema's campaign, also works at HRC as director of strategic initiatives, while Sacha Haworth, another Sinema campaign alum, now leads an anti-Big Tech group that formed earlier this year. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Wherever you're reading on this gorgeous day, I hope it's outside. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.   A message from Senior Living Advocacy – Tell Our Stories: Throughout the darkest days of the pandemic, workers in senior care communities have shown up and provided care and support to our nation's most vulnerable individuals. Now, seemingly forgotten, those who continue to work in senior care are in the fight of their lives to keep the nation's health care system afloat amid the worst staffing shortages among ALL health care providers nationwide. It's time for Washington to fund senior care. Learn more at  tellourstories.org/no-relief   HOSPITALITY SECTOR PRESSES FOR RESTAURANT AID: Nearly two dozen trade groups representing various sectors of the bar and restaurant industries are continuing to keep pressure on lawmakers to include additional pandemic assistance in a forthcoming spending package, despite the White House's bearish attitude on the need for more federal help for the industry. — On Thursday the National Restaurant Association, Independent Restaurant Coalition, Distilled Spirits Council, Wine Institute, Beer Institute, American Distilling Institute, U.S. Bartenders Guild, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, National Beer Wholesalers Association and more are promoting a #HelpHospitality day of action, urging advocates to reach out to their representatives in Congress and express support for refilling the coffers of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. — The National Restaurant Association is still pressing for help on a different front as well. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig today, the national organization along with all of its state affiliates asked for relief from enforcement of tax penalties stemming from the IRS' paperwork backlog. — According to the association, 83 percent of restaurant operators who applied for the Covid-era Employee Retention Tax Credit "more than six months ago say they have not received any funds," an issue "compounded by a loss of their normal tax deduction for payroll in their 2021 tax filing. This creates a cash flow crisis as the restaurant will owe more in taxes due to a refund it has not received." EVERYONE'S GOT A PODCAST THESE DAYS: Campaign finance nerds itching for some new content to add to the Spotify queue can rejoice, because Jan Baran, the so-called "dean of campaign finance" and a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky has launched a podcast. The show, called "Early Returns," will "spotlight players on the field, including political professionals, activists, election officials and lawyers, eliciting their insights and personal experiences, as well as tackling current controversies in law and politics." The first episode, available now, features no better inaugural guest to chat about campaign finance: FEC Chair Allen Dickerson. TECH ALLIES LEAN ON NATIONAL SECURITY IN OPPOSING ANTITRUST BILLS: "Big Tech's numerous allies in Washington are repeating a similar message as they lobby lawmakers to abandon antitrust legislation: The U.S. needs tech giants at full strength to counter China, Russia and other threats to national security," The Hill's Karl Evers-Hillstrom and Chris Mills Rodrigo report. — "The last-ditch effort comes as the Senate gears up to consider the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, a bipartisan bill that would prevent dominant digital platforms from favoring their own services and empower antitrust enforcers to scrutinize the largest tech firms. Despite making it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a bipartisan 16-6 vote, the legislation targeting America's largest tech companies faces an uphill battle." — But several lawmakers who've expressed concerns about voting to pass the bill on the floor as-is "specifically expressed concern that stopping tech giants from self-preferencing could unintentionally advantage America's adversaries. Russian aggression in Ukraine has only reinforced those industry talking points among lawmakers who are fearful of impending cyber conflicts with Russia and China, according to tech allies." — "'When you're talking about a geopolitical conflict, all of a sudden the terms of the debate change, both for the Democrats and the Republicans. There's an ongoing shift as people grapple with the magnitude of the global tensions,' said Michael Mandel, chief economist at the Amazon- and Meta-backed Progressive Policy Institute , which opposes the antitrust bill. 'You don't want to be in a position of disassembling your strongest tech companies at the same time you're fighting a tech war.'" WHAT FEC FILINGS CAN TELL US ABOUT 2024: "Most politicians with national ambitions are playing coy about running for president in 2024," POLITICO's Elena Schneider and Scott Bland report. "But behind the scenes, Republicans are on a quiet and unprecedented spending spree to build the foundations for potential national campaigns." — "A half-dozen potential GOP candidates, most of whom won't be on the ballot in 2022, still spent more than $1.4 million each on email list rentals, digital consulting and online fundraising in 2021, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance disclosures. Some were building an online base from scratch, while others were expanding on existing programs. But all of them are already running a race to build the type of fundraising base that can sustain a national campaign and test their appeal to a national audience." — "The prime example is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose campaign committee spent a whopping $13.6 million overall in 2021 — more than almost every senator running for reelection in 2022, even though Cruz's seat isn't up for two more years. At least $3.3 million of that went into digital services, while Sen. Josh Hawley's (R-Mo.) campaign spent $1.7 million online last year. Two PACs started by contenders currently out of office, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, spent $2.4 million and $1.4 million online, respectively." DEMS REJECT FOX NEWS CASH: "Something must be screwy when politicians — some of whom will beg, plead, and even mislead in a quest for money — reject campaign contributions," Insider's Dave Levinthal writes. But that appears to be exactly what's happened — "five Democratic congressional committees appear to have together rejected $12,500 in donations from Fox PAC, the political action committee run by Fox News' parent company, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission." — "Fox PAC reported 'void' a $5,000 contribution it made on December 20 to Democratic Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, who's running for an open US Senate seat in his home state. It likewise reported that a $1,500 contribution it made three days later to Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas was 'void' — although it told federal regulators that it 'reissued' the contribution on February 9." — "Three other Fox PAC campaign contributions from late 2020 — $2,500 to Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, $2,500 to Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, and $1,000 to former Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, who's now a senior advisor to President Joe Biden — also fell fallow. The reason offered for each: 'expired check.'" — "Representatives for Fox PAC and the Democratic political committees did not respond to Insider's inquiries. Despite Fox News' reputation for catering to conservatives, Fox PAC's contributions of late are decidedly bipartisan." CHASING EQUITY: The top lobbying group for the drone industry announced a rebrand today as the trade association seeks to promote gender inclusivity. The formerly named Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International is dropping the "unmanned" and other gender-specific terms in its name, governing documents, and association language, the group said, and will now go by the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International. — It's also launching a diversity, equity and inclusion advisory group that will be led by Mignonne Hollis. "In this groundbreaking industry, we know that inclusivity accelerates innovation," Hollis said in a statement. This isn't the first name change for AUVSI. When the trade group was first formed, it went by the National Association for Remotely Piloted Vehicles before switching to its previous name in 1978.   A message from Senior Living Advocacy – Tell Our Stories:   Jobs Report — BCW has promoted Dan Doherty to lead BCW's North America corporate affairs practice. He was previously executive vice president and head of BCW's global public affairs and crisis solutions North America practice. — SIFMA has added Jennifer Jacoby as managing director and associate general counsel. She most recently served as vice president of government affairs at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda. SIFMA is also adding Matthew Grinney as vice president of strategic advocacy and policy communications and Nick Key as senior associate for advocacy. Grinney previously served as a senior advisor at FHFA and deputy director of speechwriting for then-Vice President Mike Pence. —  Menlo Micro, a California-based microelectronics startup, is building out its team in Washington by adding David Asher as director of federal business development, Thomas DiNanno as senior adviser for national security, and Jerry McGinn as a strategic adviser of U.S. government operations. Asher and DiNanno are both currently fellows at the Hudson Institute, and McGinn is executive director of the Center for Government Contracting in the School of Business at George Mason University. — Squire Patton Boggs has promoted Beth Goldstein, Ludmilla Kasulke and Brandon Roman to partners and Callie Fuselier to principal in its public policy practice group. — Western Alliance Bank has added Josh Denney as director and head of government relations. He most recently spent over a decade as head of federal government affairs at BBVA USA and is a Mortgage Bankers Association alum. — Alaina Monismith, Maura McDonough and Rustin Finkler are joining Hamilton Place Strategies as directors and Stephanie Dodge Bigley, previously a director at HPS, will be returning to the firm as a senior director. Monismith was most recently senior manager of communications and media relations at the Public Affairs Council, McDonough most recently managed strategic communications at Village Capital and Finkler was most recently an account executive at Edelman. — Isabel (Hale) Mogstad has been promoted to be senior manager for federal net zero policy advocacy at BP. She most recently was manager for policy and federal government affairs at BP. — Meredith Weisel has been named regional director of the Anti-Defamation League's D.C. region. She most recently served as the deputy regional director. — Katy von Rosenberg is now government relations specialist at Samsung Austin Semiconductor. She was most recently training and outreach coordinator at the Texas Advocacy Project and is a John Cornyn alum. — Cailin Schmeer is now a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin. She previously was a director at Hamilton Place Strategies, and is a DoD and Treasury alum. — Rory Murphy is now vice president of government affairs at the US-China Business Council. He previously was a lobbyist and attorney at Squire Patton Boggs. — Aleigha Cavalier is now vice president for mobilization and campaign management at Precision Strategies. She most recently was associate director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach at the White House. — Aaron Davis is now vice president of federal relations at the International Code Council. He previously was a staff director on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. — Andrea Woods is now program manager for media relations at the American Petroleum Institute, per Playbook. She previously was manager of media relations at the Consumer Brands Association.   JOIN THURSDAY TO HEAR FROM MAYORS ACROSS AMERICA: The Fifty: America's Mayors will convene mayors from across the country to discuss their policy agendas, including the enforcement of Covid measures such as vaccine and mask mandates. We'll also discuss how mayors are dealing with the fallout of the pandemic on their local economies and workforce, affordable housing and homelessness, and criminal justice reforms. REGISTER HERE.     New Joint Fundraisers Gallego Hodge Victory Fund (Rep. Ruben Gallego, Friends of Jevin D. Hodge) Gallego Pappas Victory Fund (Rep. Chris Pappas, Gallego) Pennsylvania Frontline Fund (Reps. Matt Cartwright, Susan Wild) New PACs Alaskans for Bristol Bay Action (Super PAC) CONSERVATIVE REFORMATION PAC (Hybrid PAC) Kentucky Hospitals' Circle of Friends II Fed Pac (PAC) PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP FOR MICHIGAN (Super PAC) Protecting Democracy (Leadership PAC: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick) R.I.N.O Projects (PAC) Save America's Military PAC (Super PAC) Take Back Control PAC (Super PAC) TENNESSEE CONSERVATIVES PAC (Super PAC) We Have America Covered (Hybrid PAC) New Lobbying Registrations Ballard Partners: Bmg Money, Inc. Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Calspan Aero Systems Engineering, Inc. Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: General Electric Company (Ge Aviation) Paul Hastings LLP: Nso Group Technologies Ltd. Revere Federal Strategies: Psiquantum Signal Group Consulting, LLC: Aci Worldwide Inc.   DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     New Lobbying Terminations Child Welfare League Of America: Child Welfare League Of America Colex And Associates: St Bernard Port Harbor And Terminal District Jtr Strategies LLC: Iaero Group National Science Teachers Association: National Science Teachers Association Rw Mckinney, LLC: Northstar Earth And Space Systems, Inc.   A message from Senior Living Advocacy – Tell Our Stories: Throughout the darkest days of the pandemic, workers in senior care communities have shown up and provided care and support to our nation's most vulnerable individuals. Now, seemingly forgotten, those who continue to work in senior care are in the fight of their lives to keep the nation's health care system afloat amid the worst staffing shortages among ALL health care providers nationwide. We are long past calling this a crisis, now that thousands of American soldiers have been deployed to nursing homes across the nation to care for our seniors. It's time for Washington to STOP the siphoning and restore Provider Relief Funds. Without comprehensive relief, life-or-death repercussions will follow, as senior care staffing shortages increase hospital admissions and the risk of patient death. Learn more at  tellourstories.org/no-relief     Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.