With Daniel Lippman
SMALL-BIZ GROUP TAKES AIM AT SWIPE FEES BILL: The upstart American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce is launching a million-dollar-plus ad blitz backing up financial institutions of their push to dam laws targeting the fees retailers pay to run bank card transactions.
— The Credit Card Competition Act, from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Sick.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), is geared toward diluting the market power of card issuers Visa and Mastercard by directing the Federal Reserve to issue rules requiring large card-issuing banks or credit unions to supply at the very least one alternate network that isn’t affiliated with Visa or Mastercard.
— Their bill, which Durbin and Marshall unsuccessfully sought to have inserted into the Senate’s version of the NDAA, has the backing of enormous and small merchants who argue the 2 card issuers’ market dominance gives retailers little leverage to keep off on the worth of the fees.
— But the cardboard networks — together with banks and credit unions who also receive a portion of the so-called interchange fees — have argued that along with the payment ecosystem having sufficient competition, the fees are a key income that underwrites security measures and perks like money back and travel points.
— The brand new campaign from the AmFree Chamber, which joins a coalition of free market groups in opposition, seizes on the latter argument. Its campaign, which is able to run nationwide on streaming platforms like Hulu and Roku in addition to on social media, YouTube and Reddit, features spots going down within the fictional town of “Point Less,” Kan., which banished bank card points. The ads depict a deserted local airport and hotel and empty businesses, all vacant because people aren’t in a position to use points to book reservations.
— The ad campaign is the newest tongue-in-cheek salvo to hit the airwaves within the clash between financial institutions and merchants over the bill. Last month, the trade group representing convenience stores and fuel retailers ribbed Visa over its sponsorship of the World Cup with a soccer-centric ad, arguing that Visa was promoting “competition in soccer despite the fact that it refuses to permit competition over swipe fees and the way transactions are routed.”
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ANOTHER PHARMA LEADER PUSHED OUT: The Association for Accessible Medicines, the generic drug industry’s primary lobbying group, fired President and CEO Dan Leonard on Friday, Stat News’ John Wilkerson reports.
— Leonard is the newest casualty amongst drug lobbyists following the industry’s failure to dam Democrats from passing latest drug pricing reforms this summer, which also resulted within the departure of Biotechnology Innovation Organization headMichelle McMurry-Heath and has prompted reflection and personnel shakeups at the highest pharmaceutical lobbying group PhRMA.
— “I appreciate the chance to guide the Association during the last two plus years,” Leonard said in an announcement provided by AAM. “I look ahead to moving on to the following chapter in my profession. I’ll proceed to root for the mission of AAM in delivering reasonably priced, accessible medicines to patients across the country.” David Gaugh, previously AAM’s executive vice chairman for sciences and regulatory affairs, has been named interim CEO.
MAYORS PUSH FOR GUN BILLS: Mayors across the country are mounting a last-ditch push for an additional round of gun control laws before the tip of the 12 months. This morning, nearly 70 mayors whose cities had experienced a mass shooting this 12 months urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to take up two bills that passed the House earlier with bipartisan support.
— The push comes after a pair of high-profile shootings at a gay bar in Colorado and a Walmart in Virginia days before Thanksgiving. The killings prompted President Joe Biden to renew calls for a ban on assault rifles, or semi-automatic weapons.
— “We are able to inform you firsthand of the devastating impact these shootings have had on our residents and on our cities,” the mayors wrote to Schumer and McConnell today. “While we are going to never get well from them completely, we must try to forestall them from happening in other cities in the long run.”
— Certainly one of the bills backed by the signatories would ban the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, while the opposite would expand federal background checks to require that each one gun sales — even secondary ones — are subject to background checks. The mayors cited polling that shows a majority of Americans supports each ideas, while pleading with the Senate leaders: “How far more death and destruction must our residents and our communities endure before the Senate acts?”
INCOMING FRESHMEN SWEAR OFF CORPORATE CASH: “Within the 118th Congress, a growing contingent of lawmakers is telling corporate PACs: We don’t want your money,” Roll Call’s Kate Ackley reports.
— “Greater than 70 members say they’re swearing off such contributions, indicating that a trend, almost exclusively amongst Democrats, that caught on throughout the 2018 election cycle has endured. Despite the expansion, the move has not led to the enactment of major campaign finance policy or legislative changes. With divided control of Congress next 12 months, even a minor overhaul of political money laws seems unlikely.”
— Still, corporate PACs “face an uncertain future because the bang for his or her bucks diminishes.” End Residents United, which keeps tabs on the lawmakers who pledge to reject donations from corporate PACs, “tracked 72 members of the incoming 118th Congress (73 if Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock wins a runoff Tuesday) who reject corporate PAC money, up from 59 within the 117th Congress and 56 within the 116th Congress. A handful of Republicans have sworn off the cash in recent times, with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz sticking to his pledge of not taking donations from ‘woke corporations.’”
— The trend has business PAC representatives on the defensive. “‘I feel there’s lots of misunderstanding around our PACs,’ said Micaela Isler, executive director of the National Association of Business Political Motion Committees. ‘When people hear “corporate PAC,” they immediately think corporate treasury funds are getting used to elect candidates to Congress. On the federal level, we all know that will not be permissible.’”
KNOWING THE TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: The Latest York Times’ David Gelles reports: “When a lawsuit was filed to dam the nation’s first major offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, it gave the impression to be a simple clash between those that earn their living from the ocean and others who would install turbines and underwater cables that might interfere with the harvesting of squid, fluke and other fish. … But the financial muscle behind the fight originated hundreds of miles from the Atlantic Ocean, in dusty oil country.”
— “The group bankrolling the lawsuit filed last 12 months was the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit organization backed by oil and gas firms and Republican donors. With influence campaigns, legal motion and model laws, the group is promoting fossil fuels and attempting to stall the American economy’s transition toward renewable energy.”
— The group was formed in 1989 in Texas, but has since gone national, finding a vocal supporter in former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and following him to Washington when Perry became Energy secretary throughout the Trump administration.
— The group placed several of its own officials contained in the administration as well, and “because the organization’s profile grew, donations ballooned from $4.7 million in 2010 to $25.6 million in 2021, probably the most recent 12 months for which records can be found. That allowed the group to expand its mandate far beyond the Lone Star state.”
FLYING IN: Greater than 70 representatives from children’s hospitals across the country will hit the Hill tomorrow to make the case for fitting the industry’s priorities into any year-end legislative packages. Advocates are set to fulfill with members on either side of the aisle, and can push for requests like pediatric mental health and pediatric workforce investments, everlasting reauthorization for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and resources to take care of a surge of RSV and pediatric flu cases.
— The Institute of International Bankers named Beth Zorc as its next chief executive. She succeeds Briget Polichene, who has served as CEO since 2018. Zorc was most recently associate general counsel at Robinhood and is a Wells Fargo, HUD and Hill alum.
— Dustin Todd has joined Synopsys as vice chairman and head of presidency affairs. He was most recently public policy lead for devices and Ring at Amazon and is a Semiconductor Industry Association and Paul Tonko alum.
— Matt Orr will likely be chief of staff for Rep.-elect Russell Fry (R-S.C.). He was most recently vice chairman of public affairs for First Tuesday Strategies.
— Annie Moore is now senior director of digital at Dezenhall Resources. She previously was digital director for the Republican State Leadership Committee.
— Liz Jurinka is now a senior policy fellow on the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University. She was most recently special assistant to the president within the Office of Legislative Affairs on the White House.
— K. Dane Snowden is now a senior adviser at Wilkinson Barker Knauer. He previously was president and CEO of the Web Association, and is an FCC alum.
— J. Carl Maxwell is now vice chairman for public policy for the Association of American Publishers. He previously was manager of advocacy for the American Chemical Society.
— The Household & Business Products Association promoted Alexandra Hayes to senior vice chairman of communications and public affairs. She previously was vice chairman of communications and public affairs for the group.
— Jeffrey Bishku-Aykul is now editorial manager at FTI Consulting. He most recently was manager for copy and production at Storyful.
— Josselin Castillo is now manager of presidency relations on the National Federation of Independent Business. She previously led health care federal affairs for Americans for Prosperity.
— Suzanne Stokes Vieth has been appointed as director of state relations and outreach on the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. She previously was deputy director for presidency affairs at Population Association of America/Association of Population Centers.
— Greg Smith will likely be chief of staff for Rep.-elect Eli Crane (R-Ariz.). He previously was vice chairman of American Global Strategies and is a Trump White House alum.
BHG Committee (Reps. Andy Barr, Bill Huizenga, Andrew Garbarino)
Alpha Viking Wolf Pack (Super PAC)
PA SENATE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2024 (PAC)
SAILDRONE INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (SAILPAC) (PAC)
Teamsters Local 79 PAC for Higher Government (PAC)
WI SENATE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2024 (PAC)
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Macom Technology Solutions
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Niacet Corporation
Anaklia Development Consortium LLC: Anaklia Development Consortium LLC
Article One Group, LLC: Freedom Foundation
Article One Group, LLC: Yes, Every Kid., Inc.
Aux Initiatives, LLC: Capturepoint Solutions
Boundary Stone Partners: Ike Smart City, LLC
Jean Marie Consulting, LLC: Freedom Foundation
K&L Gates, LLP: Intramotev Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: Triad Semiconductor, Inc.
Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein LLP: Research Triangle Foundation
Williams And Jensen, Pllc: California State Teachers’ Retirement System
William Watson Group LLC: World Tradex, Inc.
Smith Consulting Group, Inc.: Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.
