Branstad, GOP strategist to helm new business lobbying group

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May 02, 2022 View in browser   By Caitlin Oprysko Presented by With Jordan Wolman and Daniel Lippman   BRANSTAD TO LEAD NEW PRO-BUSINESS GROUP: Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will helm a new business advocacy group that launched today focusing on advocating for free market policies and limited government, and lifting up small businesses. The move comes as Republicans nationwide continue to butt heads with large multinational corporations and their representatives in Washington, like the U.S. Chamber of Congress. — The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce , or AmFree Chamber, will be based in Branstad's home state, with a cost of membership at $99 for everyone. "The idea is that we don't want to open the possibility that we were more responsive to some members than others on the basis of the fee that they pay," said Gentry Collins, the organization's chief executive and a former political director at the RNC. — Branstad told PI: "I think the big problem has been people have been just too concerned about big money, and not concerned enough about small business and the entrepreneurs. And we need some organization that's really going to advocate for them." — Collins also pointed to a rising anti-corporate sentiment as fueling demand for a group like the AmFree Chamber. "We've seen poll after poll that suggests that next-generation American voters, consumers and leaders are less sure that free enterprise and American capitalism are a force for good in their lives," he said. — Branstad, who also served as ambassador to China during the Trump administration, added that his travels as governor and his time in Beijing have helped frame his perspective on the issue. "I went to the old Soviet Union, I went to China. I saw the disaster that socialism left behind — it's been tried and doesn't work," he said. "And I just think it's critically important that we have a strong voice that represents free enterprise and limited government," while pushing states to adopt more business-friendly climates. — Among the new group's most immediate concerns, he said, are pushes "to force everybody into a union and to stifle free expression." But he added there are some areas where he believes the organization could work with the Biden administration, especially on the issue of waivers to increase ethanol blending in the fuel supply — an issue hugely important to Iowans. Good afternoon and welcome to PI — and to May! It was so lovely to see many of you out this weekend. Keep the K Street gossip and tips coming: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.   A message from ACT|The App Association: Open and fair competition in the digital marketplace drives our members' success, but the proposals in the Open App Markets Act will hinder our small business members' opportunity for continued prosperity. https://actonline.org/2022/04/04/give-small-developers-a-chance-not-higher-barriers-to-entry/   DISNEY CLASH HAS CEOS ON EDGE: "In private meetings and coaching sessions over the past few weeks, top business leaders have been asking a version of the same question: How can we avoid becoming the next Walt Disney Co.?" The Wall Street Journal's Chip Cutter and Emily Glazer report. — "The fallout from the recent political spat between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has alarmed leaders across the corporate sphere, according to executives and their advisers, and heightened the challenges for chief executive officers navigating charged topics. At many companies, vocal employees have in recent years pushed bosses to take public stands on social and political issues. Florida's pushback against Disney has raised the stakes." — "'The No. 1 concern CEOs have is, 'When should I speak out on public issues?' said Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic and now a senior fellow at Harvard Business School. 'As one CEO said to me, "I want to speak out on social issues, but I don't want to get involved in politics." Which I said under my breath, "That's not possible."'" — "Some executives might be relieved. The old idea that CEOs should focus on shareholder returns and stay out of politics lingers in some corporate suites, even in a politicized age of public social-media discussions and more-activist workforces. Certainly the consequences of weighing in appear to be changing." DISNEY SHAKES UP COMMS TEAM: "After less than four months, there is another changing of the communications guard at the Walt Disney Company," per Deadline's Dominic Patten. "Battered by the ongoing battle with Florida Gov. and 2024 POTUS hopeful Ron DeSantis as well as internal dissent, Geoff Morrell is out as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at the House of Mouse." — Morrell, a Bush administration and BP alum, will be in part replaced by a Democrat: "Biden administration insider and recent Disney addition Kristina Schake will handle Disney communications efforts. Company General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez will take over Government Relations and Global Public Policy. Additionally, EVP Corporate Social Responsibility Jenny Cohen now will report directly to [CEO Bob] Chapek as Disney tries to figure out where it stands and to whom … it is donating." TOP-ED: After an advocacy group funded by Big Tech companies last month attempted to seize upon divergent ideologies on LGBTQ rights among antitrust advocates in Washington, the transgender leader of a top antitrust group swiped back at those appeals in an op-ed today for Vice, calling the tactic "a new low" for tech lobbyists. — Evan Greer, director at the digital rights group Fight for the Future, which organized a recent antitrust day of action, was responding to an April letter from the Chamber of Progress, which is led by a former Google executive and funded by companies including Google, Meta and Amazon, that urged Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to disavow recent rhetoric from Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) that criticized tech giants like Apple for lobbying in favor of gay and trans rights in statehouses. — "Silence when political figures threaten to use antitrust as a weapon against companies opens the door to more such attacks," the group wrote to Cicilline and Klobuchar, who are leading a pair of bills to rein in tech companies. It urged the lawmakers to "acknowledge that antitrust action should never be used as a weapon against companies working to protect marginalized communities or to stand up for what's right." — But Greer, who argued that "extreme concentration in the tech marketplace has removed alternatives that would allow trans people to take our business elsewhere, even when our security is on the line," called it "shameful that the Chamber — ostensibly a 'progressive' organization — is putting our safety and interests in the crosshairs, using trans people as a bargaining chip to kill tech reform bills." — "The fact that they're doing this at a time when trans people, particularly trans children, are actively under siege and being targeted by dozens of hateful and violent legislative attacks across the country, is immoral and inexcusable," she wrote. "Big Tech is free to oppose bills that will finally hold them accountable, but at the very least, they should tell their lobbyists to keep our names out of their mouths." EU EYES CRACKDOWN ON RUSSIA'S HIRED GUNS: "The European Commission is set to hit firms who consult and lobby for Russian companies … to prevent them doing public relations work for Vladimir Putin's regime," three EU diplomats tell our Pro colleagues across the pond Barbara Moens and Leonie Kijewski. — "In the coming days, the European Commission is set to propose a sixth package of sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. While the main focus will be on a phaseout of Russian oil imports, the package will also include other measures, such as excluding the Russian bank Sberbank from the international payment system SWIFT." — "Cutting the ties between the consulting and lobbying sector and Russia is also set to be one of the measures, the diplomats said. The move would also prevent firms from giving legal advice to Russian companies, according to one diplomat." FAMILY AFFAIR: The yearslong tug-of-war over the ability for Gov. Tom Wolf to join a multistate program that would charge Pennsylvania power sector polluters for their emissions has entered the legal battle stage. Now, one couple is playing an outsized role in the fight over the state's future in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Jordan reports. Pennsylvania officially joined RGGI last month and compliance will begin July 1. — After a number of Republican-led legislative attempts to stop Wolf from joining RGGI through executive action failed, a group of fossil fuel allies sued the administration and requested a preliminary injunction. — The Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, one of the plaintiffs in the case, is led by Rachel Gleason. She is married to Peter Gleason, a lawyer and lobbyist at K&L Gates — the firm representing the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, United Mine Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and others in the lawsuit to pull the state out of RGGI. — While Peter Gleason is not part of the litigation team on this case, he is registered in Harrisburg to lobby state lawmakers on behalf of energy interests like Vistra Corp., Coterra Energy , the United States Steel Corporation and Olympus Power, LLC that would be impacted by Pennsylvania's participation in RGGI. Oil and gas is listed as one of Peter Gleason's areas of focus at K&L Gates. — The lawsuit filed by fossil fuel interests isn't the first legal challenge RGGI supporters are contending with. Another lawsuit featuring top legislative Republicans as intervenors is also ongoing. That lawsuit was filed before the regulation was published but ultimately failed to prevent the state from joining RGGI after a court-ordered stay was lifted. A status conference is scheduled in that lawsuit for later this week. SPOTTED at CRAFT Media/Digital's post-White House Correspondents' Dinner party at the residence of Colombian Ambassador Juan Carlos Pinzón, per a PI tipster: Tim Daly, Jason Isaacs and Billy Eichner; Henry Muñoz of Funny or Die; Kirk Wagar; Fat Joe; Brian Shroder and Patrick Hillmann of Binance; Brian Donahue of CRAFT; Mary McGinty of the National Retail Federation; Chris Reen of Clarity Media Group; John Horton and Angela Eaddy of DoorDash; John Bozzella of Alliance for Automotive Innovation; Rhonda Bentz of the Consumer Brands Association; Meg Bloomgren of the American Petroleum Institute; Harvey Mason Jr. from The Recording Academy; Todd Dupler of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; Rene Jones of UTA; Marissa Mitrovich of Frontier Communications; Jodie McLean of Edens; Ivan Zapien of Hogan Lovells; Mark Ein of Venturehouse; Tiffany Moore of the Consumer Technology Association; Missy Owens from General Motors; Josh Eastright of Bloomberg Industry Group; Marie Sylla-Dixon; Carl Hulse of The New York Times; Robin Bronk of The Creative Coalition; Jigar Thakarar and Lindsey Burris of Musicares; Joey Gonzalez of Barry's Bootcamp; Kimball Stroud of Kimball Stroud & Associates; and Steve Ross of The Artists and Athletes Alliance. Jobs Report — Venn Strategies is adding Kate Marks as senior vice president, Alexandra Holmes and Kyla Taylor as associates on the critical infrastructure team, and Jacob Petote and Tyler Lazenby as client services associates. Marks most recently was deputy assistant secretary of Energy in the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response. — Mike Crittenden has joined The Levinson Group as senior managing director based in the D.C. office. He was most recently a senior vice president at Mercury and is a Wall Street Journal and CQ alum. — Kathy Bowman-Williams has joined Squire Patton Boggs as its global director of DEI. She was most recently director and head of diversity and inclusion at Baker Botts. — Anna Nix Kumar has joined Monument Advocacy's public affairs practice. She previously launched her own firm and served as communications lead for Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and Ken Cuccinelli's 2013 gubernatorial bid. — Seven Letter has promoted Kara O'Connell, who manages media planning and creative production at Seven Letter Labs, Holly Jackson, who helps to lead the firm's grassroots & grasstops advocacy practice and Liza Crawford Joenler, who oversees the firm's new business development process, to senior directors, Benji Englander to director and Madison Bentil, Madeline Reynolds and Valentina Mendez to managers. — Meghan Pensyl is now manager for North American public policy at Twilio. She was previously policy manager at BSA - The Software Alliance. — John Myers has joined the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania as vice president of federal advocacy. He was previously director of federal government affairs at AstraZeneca. — Bob Emmett has joined Leidos as director of government relations. He was previously president at Emmett Strategies and is an Orbital ATK and United Technologies alum. — Peraton has added Andrew Hallman as vice president of national security strategy and integration. He was previously a principal executive at ODNI and deputy director for digital innovation at CIA. — Chris Moser has been promoted to be executive vice president and head of competitive markets and policy at NRG Energy. He most recently was executive vice president of plant operations, commercial operations, and engineering and construction at the company. — Kate Childs Graham has rejoined West Wing Writers as a senior adviser. She most recently served as Vice President Kamala Harris' director of speechwriting. — Eliza McCoy has joined the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation as vice president of awareness and prevention programs. She was previously at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. — Sari Bashi will be program director at Human Rights Watch. She was previously a special adviser with the group. — John Shelton is joining Mike Pence's c4, Advancing American Freedom, as a policy adviser, per Playbook. He previously was a legislative assistant for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and is a Bill Posey alum. — Zack DiGregorio is now deputy communications director for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). He previously was national press secretary at Everytown for Gun Safety and is a Hub Project and Josh Gottheimer alum. — Blake Adami is now a senior manager of federal policy at Snap. He previously led the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors' technology portfolio. — Gadi Ben-Yehuda is joining BAE Systems as director of digital and social media. He previously was director of social media at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   A message from ACT|The App Association:   New Joint Fundraisers Kean/Van Drew 22 PAC (Rep. Jeff Van Drew, Kean for Congress, Inc.) Raise the Wage Fund (Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Fems for Dems PAC) New PACs FTC PAC (Super PAC) National Draft Donald J.Trump for President 2024 Committee (PAC) New Lobbying Registrations Atlas Advocacy: Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority Capitol Solutions, LLC (Dc): Water Systems Council Continental Strategy, LLC: Grupo Aldecasa Donald Brittingham: Industry Council For Emergency Response Technologies, Inc. Invariant LLC: Shopify Inc. K&L Gates, LLP: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Biomason Inc. K&L Gates, LLP: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Groq Inc. K&L Gates, LLP: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Witricity Lne Group: Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Lne Group: Journey Forward Lne Group: Nextstep Orlando Lne Group: North Carolina Central University Lne Group: Romy And Gaby Sci Foundation Philip W. Johnston Associates: Greater New Bedford Community Health Center Philip W. Johnston Associates: The Possible Project, Inc. (Dba The Possible Zone) Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC: Coinbase, Inc. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Inc.: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Inc. Squire Patton Boggs: High Valley Transit District The Bennett Consulting Group: Accelbeam Photonics LLC The Bennett Consulting Group: US Magnesium Corp The Russell Group, Inc.: Eleanor Crook The Vogel Group: Chamber Of Progress Way Forward Strategies, LLC: Minderoo Foundation Limited As Trustee For The Minderoo Foundation Trust New Lobbying Terminations A.L. Ross Associates: United Aeronautical Corporation Doucet Consulting Solutions, LLC: El Paso Electric Company K&L Gates, LLP: Jobget, Inc. Mission Government Relations (Formerly Known As Muroff Law Firm, LLC): Central Philadelphia Development Corporation The Petrizzo Group, Inc.: Starbucks Corporation The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute   A message from ACT|The App Association: When the largest sellers on the app stores, with multi-billion-dollar valuations, come to Congress with proposals to reshape the mobile marketplace to suit their needs, policymakers should be rather skeptical. We urge Congress not to sacrifice consumers' most important privacy and security protections–and with them, the competitive prospects of small app companies–in order to further advantage the app stores' biggest winners. https://actonline.org/2022/04/04/give-small-developers-a-chance-not-higher-barriers-to-entry/     Follow us

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