Under The Influence

White House's Eisen Reports on Transparency

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:18:27 GMT

All 17 government executive agencies have "made concrete changes" to their transparency standards since President Obama issued his Open Government Directive last December, according to Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform Norm Eisen, who spoke today in detail at the Building Transparency panel hosted by the Center for American Progress.

After Obama issued the directive along with others last year aimed at improving the Freedom of Information Act process, Eisen said agencies are beginning to create transparency plans in time for the April 7 deadline.

FOIA compliance, Eisen said, is where he has seen the most improvement. The Department of Agriculture put in tracking technologies for FOIA requests; the Department of Defense retrained over 500 persons involved in FOIA request processing; and the Federal bureau of Investigation has changed policy to comply with requests.

"And the list goes on, and on, and on," Eisen emphasized.

AFL-CIO Endorses Health Care Reform

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation, is the latest lobbying heavyweight to formally give its seal of approval to Democrats' $940 billion health care reform legislation, urging House Members on Thursday to vote for the measure," Roll Call reports.

Inside The Energy Bill War Room

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Advocacy and lobbying stories from this week's National Journal: (subscription)

"Inside The Energy Bill War Room": When a group of young environmental activists set out to picket a late-February fundraiser hosted by nuclear power and coal-industry lobbyists for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the protesters didn't have far to go.

The swank downtown restaurant chosen for the event just happened to be in the same building where the demonstration was conceived. Six stories above sits the war room of a well-oiled but little-known operation called Clean Energy Works, created last fall by more than 50 nonprofit groups to push a comprehensive energy bill through the Senate.

"The Bible Goes To School": Kentucky is considering a bill that would establish an elective social studies course on the Bible in public high schools. Some advocates say that it will improve student behavior. Skeptics see a potential breakdown of the separation between church and state.

"On The Move:" Gloria Dittus has been working the public-relations game for a long time, and she's happy to share her business philosophy: "The great politicians from Tip O'Neill to Ronald Reagan understood that all politics is local. And you need to get out of the intelligentsia environment and talk to people on their own terms, in their backyards." Her latest project is Story Partners, which will do traditional coalition-building and digital media outreach for legislative and regulatory campaigns.

RILA Brings In LaBruno

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:54:21 GMT

The Retail Industry Leaders Association has brought in Lisa LaBruno to be its new vice president for loss prevention and legal affairs.

A statement says LaBruno will be involved in RILA's asset protection offerings in loss prevention, retail crime, workplace safety, disaster recovery, and other matters. LaBruno was formerly an in-house lawyer for Home Depot.

She's a former assistant prosecutor in Hudson County, New Jersey, and was also a litigation lawyer for the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. Last year, RILA had been considering a merger with the National Retail Federation, but the deal was called off. We reported yesterday that Matt Shay was just named president and CEO of NRF

Unions Push Back Against Banks

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:30:00 GMT

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Labor unions are flexing their muscle this month in scores of protests against the country's largest banks, which are lobbying heavily to influence financial overhaul legislation," The Hill reports. "Unions will hold roughly 200 events by March 26 aimed at Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo."

• "A Pennsylvania lawmaker whose parents recently died of cancer is among the targets of an ad campaign by a conservative group that questions congressional Democrats' interest in preventing the disease," AP reports.

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports on President Obama's lobbying style, specifically how it pertains to the health care debate: "The strength of Mr. Obama's personal lobbying is being put to a severe test this week in a string of closed-door sessions with House Democrats as the president tries to find the final votes needed to secure passage of his top priority. His arguments range from sweeping points about the state of the nation to a nitty-gritty understanding of legislative details."

An Upgrade For FOIA

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:20:00 GMT

The Freedom of Information Act needs an upgrade befitting the ease and access of the Internet era, according to Rep. Steve Israel, who has introduced a bill promising just that.

The New York Democrat intends to transform FOIA into POIA, the Public Online Information Act, which will require the executive branch to begin putting its public information online.

"'Public' is to be redefined to mean online and searchable," Israel said in a news conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday.

FOIA has become "outdated," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation, who helped Israel's office craft the legislation. Created in 1966 under President Lyndon Johnson as a way to make government documents accessible, FOIA now carries hindrances of its own, Miller said, restricting curious citizens to a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window and mandating formal requests for documents -- followed by drawn-out waiting periods. Israel likened the experience of searching for files in federal basements to searching the cavernous government warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark, a process that he says is "out of the dark ages."

POIA requires the federal chief information officer to put all executive documents online, in a user-friendly format, permanently, and without charges or fees. Every federal agency will be required to establish a searchable catalogue of all public documents, because transparency isn't just having documents available, it's "knowing what documents" are available, according to Israel.

Gillespie Raising Funds For New 527

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:12:48 GMT

Veteran Republican operative and consultant Ed Gillespie is raising funds for a new political organization called American Crossroads that's already roped in millions of dollars and plans to be active in dozens of House and Senate races this year to help GOP incumbents and candidates.

Sources familiar with the new organization, a 527 that is seeking to raise about $60 million, say the former chairman of the Republican National Committee recently went looking for money in Texas and had some success with wealthy individuals there. Sources say the fundraising for American Crossroads could also be getting a helping hand from GOP strategist Karl Rove.

According to a GOP operative familiar with American Crossroads, the fledgling group may have raised as much as $40 million to date and is preparing to name a well-known Washingtonian to run it. The 527 is one of several political ventures that Gillespie, an ex lobbyist who now runs the strategic consulting firm Ed Gillespie Strategies, is involved with this political season.

Patton Boggs Hires Telecom Counsel

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:58:02 GMT

Patton Boggs has snagged communications lawyer Mark C. Ellison as a partner in its Washington office.

Ellison previously worked at the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, where he served as senior vice president and general counsel and dealt with satellite TV, broadband, and smart grid technology, among other issues. Before that, he was assistant general counsel for Turner Broadcasting, and he also worked as general counsel at the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association.

This is a timely hire for Patton Boggs, considering the Federal Communications Commission's recent release of a strategy to expand broadband Internet access in rural areas.

Tauzin Weighs Options

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:53:37 GMT

Even as former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., helps to lead the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in another multi-million ad drive to pass health care reform legislation, he is busy looking ahead to the future when he departs PhRMA this June and is eyeing launching a Washington consulting firm, possibly with one or more of his sons.

In a twenty-minute phone interview, Tauzin said that he will "probably be doing some consulting. A number of the drug companies have indicated an interest in working with me. I'm not leaving town."

Tauzin added that he's intrigued at the possibility of building a consulting business that might include some of his sons--one of whom is now a lobbyist with the Capitol Hill Consulting Group --much as his old friends, former Sens. John Breaux, D-La., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., have done at their firm the Breaux Lott Leadership Group. Further if he opts to launch a new firm, Tauzin said it might also do some lobbying, but stressed that he's still "ruminating" about different options including job feelers he's received from several law firms in town.

"I've got a lot of feelers from most of the big law firms." One thing that Tauzin is certain about though as he looks ahead to life after PhRMA is that he "wants the flexibility to do some very important work" back in Louisiana to protect New Orleans from future hurricanes like Katrina. Tauzin has had a number of conversations in recent weeks with old friends from the Bayou state including Breaux and Democratic strategists James Carville and Donna Brazile about the possibility of making New Orleans "water proof" via a large scale reengineering and architecture project.

Retail's Newest Leader

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:13:10 GMT

Matt Shay has just been named president and chief executive officer of the National Retail Federation.

Shay has plenty of experience heading a trade association: he comes over from the International Franchise Association, where he was named president in 2004 and CEO in 2007. Shay, an Ohio native, started off his career with the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants. At NRF, he succeeds the retiring Tracy Mullin.

After meeting with the executive committee and the board, Shay says the goal of the group is to make sure that "the footprint that the NRF and the retail industry have in Washington on an advocacy basis, reflects the economic footprint that the retail industry has in local communities across the country and in our economy."

When asked about potentially bringing in more lobbyists or manpower in D.C., Shay said it was premature to discuss that just yet.

Financial Legislation Roils K Street

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Lobbyists are scurrying to make major changes to the 1,336-page financial overhaul legislation Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) released this week," The Hill reports. "Everyone from consumer advocates to executives at big banks want changes to the long-awaited bill, which aims to prevent future financial crises."

• "With the final showdown over health care reform looming, conservative activists Tuesday descended on Capitol Hill to press lawmakers to spike the measure while medical stakeholders worked behind the scenes to protect their interests," Roll Call reports.

• "House phone lines were nearing capacity on Tuesday as conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh encouraged fans to call in their objections on healthcare legislation," The Hill reports. "The House e-mail system was also deluged in what the House's technology office called 'a very significant spike' in traffic."

• "A new federal tax requirement is exposing sensitive salary information of trade association lobbyists and other senior employees, setting off alarms downtown over how the information will be used," Roll Call reports.

WH Pushes Agency Transparency

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:05:02 GMT

The Obama administration is pushing government agencies to redouble their efforts to be more transparent to the public and, in particular, do more to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, according to a post on the White House blog by Norm Eisen, the president's special counsel on ethics and government reform.

Eisen highlights a March 16 memo written by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Bob Bauer, counsel to the president, urging agency and department heads to update FOIA guidance and training materials and to assess whether adequate resources are being allocated to responding to FOIA requests.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group that has filed numerous FOIA requests, praised the administration for its efforts but said it still has "a long way to go" to make agencies, such as the Defense department, more transparent.

Business Lobby Picks At Dodd's Bill

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:50:58 GMT

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Just hours after Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) unveiled his financial services regulatory reform bill, business groups moved to oppose specific provisions in the legislation," Roll Call reports. (subscription)

• "Liberal groups, drug companies and assorted coalitions are moving to counter the heavy blitz of ads aimed at sinking the health care overhaul legislation that could be considered as soon as this week by the House," Roll Call reports. (subscription)

• "Wide-ranging bans on earmarks are forcing appropriations lobbyists to look for other avenues to find money for their clients," The Hill reports.

• "A lobbying firm with close ties to the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) -- and a central player in some of the most questionable earmarks sponsored by Murtha -- appears to have closed its doors," Roll Call reports. (subscription)

Oil, Nuclear Giants Top '09 Spenders

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:50:57 GMT

Out of the top 25 lobbying spenders of 2009, nine of those are heavily involved in the energy and climate debate -- including four oil companies and Southern Co., the recipient of the Obama administration's first nuclear loan guarantee.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks at the top, spending more than $120 million last year on lobbying, nearly doubling its total from 2008. ExxonMobil came in a distant second, with a 2009 total of $27.4 million, down 5.4 percent from 2008. The other oil giants that made the list include Chevron (eighth), ConocoPhillips (12th) and BP America (16th).

Southern Co., the Southeastern electricity company that President Obama awarded the first conditional nuclear loan guarantee last month, is the 20th-highest spender. It spent $13.5 million on lobbying in 2009. While environmental groups have charged that the company has dedicated inordinate amounts of money and manpower to influencing the debate, its spending actually dropped 3.8 percent from 2008.

Energy and the environment made up a significant portion of the most common issues lobbyists reported in their 2009 disclosure filings, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, with 1,747 registrations for "Energy/nuclear power" and 1,259 for "Environment/Superfund."

National Journal delved into the state of lobbying in its March 13 issue (subscription). After the jump, see a list of the biggest spenders who have a hand in the climate and energy debate.

Big Changes For Nonprofits

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:42:26 GMT

In the wake of the Supreme Court's recent ruling to deregulate corporate political spending, public attention has focused squarely on whether businesses and for-profit companies will now lavish big money on elections.

But Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission may have as much or more impact on another type of incorporated organization -- nonprofits of all stripes. These include 501(c)4 advocacy groups, 501(c)5 labor unions, 501(c)6 trade associations and even 501(c)3 charities, which face both fresh opportunities and dangers in the wake of Citizens United.

Associations and advocacy groups can be expected to ramp up their political activities, election lawyers say. At the same time, the ruling -- by equating corporate and individual First Amendment rights -- could trigger sweeping changes in IRS law as it applies to political activity, some tax experts say. All this could thrust 501(c)3 charities, which are now barred from engaging in partisan political activities, into an uncomfortable spot.

You can read Eliza's full column here.

Under The Influence

White House's Eisen Reports on Transparency

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AFL-CIO Endorses Health Care Reform

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Inside The Energy Bill War Room

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RILA Brings In LaBruno

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Unions Push Back Against Banks

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An Upgrade For FOIA

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Gillespie Raising Funds For New 527

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Patton Boggs Hires Telecom Counsel

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Tauzin Weighs Options

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Retail's Newest Leader

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Financial Legislation Roils K Street

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WH Pushes Agency Transparency

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Business Lobby Picks At Dodd's Bill

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Oil, Nuclear Giants Top '09 Spenders

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Big Changes For Nonprofits

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