WHY LAND O\u2019LAKES IS LOBBYING ON BROADBAND ACCESS: When most Americans hear the name Land O\u2019Lakes, they think butter, not broadband. But the dairy co-op is getting into the connectivity game, or at least using its company resources to expand access in the communities where its employees work. The company back in April retained the lobbying help of a team at Cornerstone Government Affairs to assist in that effort, according to new disclosure filings, as lawmakers work to fill out a bipartisan infrastructure framework that is expected to include a hefty investment in expanding Americans\u2019 access to high-speed internet.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The push stems from a listening tour with farmer-owners that Land O\u2019Lakes chief executive Beth Ford embarked on when she assumed the role several years ago, when she heard complaints across the country about challenges with connectivity, said Stacy Rich, who leads the account for Cornerstone. When the pandemic hit, exacerbating issues with access to internet, the company partnered with other corporations from Microsoft to Tractor Supply Co. to the Mayo Clinic as part of the American Connection Project, which then set up thousands of free wifi locations nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Now, the coalition is looking to do more, but because its membership is so broad, the group has coalesced around a number of goals rather than any particular bill. The group is calling for $80 billion for broadband infrastructure, more than the $65 billion included in the bipartisan framework. The group also wants improved mapping, ways to address digital literacy, and the extension of some of the telehealth provisions that Congress approved during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
FARA FRIDAY: Here are a couple of notable recent Foreign Agents Registration Act filings, as part of our occasional Friday roundup. BGR Group has inked a $40,000 contract with the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran to help put on the controversial group\u2019s (somewhat) annual conference, according to documents filed with the Justice Department this week. The council is an affiliate of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, a opposition group that\u2019s waged a decades-long campaign against Tehran\u2019s theocratic regime. The MEK was designated in the U.S. as a terrorist outfit for 15 years before it was delisted in 2012 after an intense lobbying campaign, and some analysts now describe the group as a cult.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The group\u2019s \u201cFree Iran\u201d conference is set to take place virtually on July 10 and will focus on calling for the investigation and prosecution of Iran\u2019s newly elected Ebrahim Raisi over Raisi\u2019s alleged role in overseeing the mass execution of Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s, BGR\u2019s Jeff Birnbaum, who is working on the account, said in an interview. This week, the U.N.\u2019s investigator on human rights in Iran backed such a probe. The conference is set to draw more than two dozen bipartisan members of Congress, according to a filing this week, including at least nine lawmakers slated to speak at the event: Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.) Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). The event is also set to feature former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former national security adviser James Jones; past attendees have included Rudy Giuliani and former Speaker Newt Gingrich.<\/p>\n
Happy Friday and welcome to PI. We\u2019ll be off Monday for the holiday, but I\u2019ll be back in your inboxes Tuesday. Send me a lobbying tip and let me know how you\u2019ll be spending the weekend. I\u2019ll be taking a stab at the axe throwing trend so also send any advice on how not to maim myself: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.<\/p>\n
WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE?: During an interview with POLITICO Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza this morning, Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn said her time in the administration is winding down and that she would return to SKDKnickerbocker \u201cvery shortly.\u201d Dunn ping-ponged from Biden\u2019s campaign back to the strategic comms firm and then to the administration for what she said in an email to staffers at the time would be a temporary post. \u201cI do believe when the president asks you directly to come serve, that you have a responsibility to serve, but this was not my intention to be at the White House full time for a longer stint,\u201d she said this morning.<\/p>\n
BUYER WANTED: Precision Strategies, the Democratic consulting firm founded by President Joe Biden\u2019s deputy chief of staff, Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon, Stephanie Cutter, a top adviser on the Biden-blessed outside group Building Back Together, and Obama campaign alum Teddy Goff, is in preliminary talks with potential buyers, POLITICO\u2019s Theo Meyer and Alex Thompson report.<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s unclear whether the firm ultimately will decide to sell\u201d and Precision \u2014 which has done work for the DNC, corporate clients like General Electric and Lyft, and is representing the Independent Restaurant Coalition in its fight for industry pandemic aid \u2014 is staying quiet on the matter. \u201cBut two people familiar with the conversations said Cutter has discussed the possibility with associates. At a time when the political world is still adjusting to the Biden era, Precision provides some major muscle with the party in power. Its acquisition would also continue a long Washington, D.C., tradition of big firms snapping up smaller ones with ties to a new administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 One such firm that has had discussions about buying Precision, per a person familiar, is British conglomerate WPP, which owns dozens of firms in D.C. and throughout the globe. Precision\u2019s chief operating officer, Tom Reno, previously worked for Burson Cohn & Wolfe, which is owned by WPP, and the conglomerate has a record of snapping up well-connected firms in the past: During President George W. Bush\u2019s first term, it \u201cbought a lobbying firm co-founded by Ed Gillespie,\u201d a top aide to his campaign and who later went to work in his White House.\u201d<\/p>\n
LEAKED REPORT BLAMES INDUSTRY LOBBYING, MISINFORMATION FOR CLIMATE INACTION: \u201cA recently leaked draft report written by some of the world\u2019s top climate scientists blamed disinformation and lobbying campaigns \u2014 including by Exxon Mobil \u2014 for undermining government efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the dangers of global warming to society,\u201d POLITICO\u2019s Zack Colman and Karl Mathiesen report. \u201cThe draft report, which has been reviewed by POLITICO and other news organizations in recent days, is part of an upcoming review of climate science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body that brings together scientists from around the globe to examine the state of climate research.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 The draft began leaking days before an environmental activist group put out footage of one of Exxon\u2019s lobbyists admitting the company worked with “shadow groups” that waged disinformation campaigns around climate science. It \u201cblamed think tanks, foundations, trade associations and other third-party groups that represent fossil fuel companies for promoting \u2018contrarian\u2019 science that misleads the public and disrupts efforts to implement climate policies needed to address the rising threats.\u201d<\/p>\n
LOBBYING ON SURPRISE BILLING MOVES BEHIND THE SCENES: The Biden administration on Thursday published its first major regulation laying out how the federal government will implement last December\u2019s hard-won ban on so-called surprise medical bills, but the pricey and public lobbying battle that delayed a deal on the practice has continued \u2014 this time, out of the public eye, The New York Times\u2019 Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz report. \u201cPassage of the ban set off another aggressive lobbying effort over how exactly billing conflicts between providers and insurers will be resolved when the law takes effect in 2022. The same actors that made their case to Congress are now equally engaged in a behind-the-scenes effort to nudge the regulations in a more favorable direction. \u2018The lobbying is very much still going on,\u2019 said Loren Adler, an associate director of the U.S.C.-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy, whose research on the issue was influential among lawmakers.\u201d
\nJobs Report<\/p>\n
\u2014 Michael Blake Bezruki is joining Lobbyit as vice president of government relations, focusing on issues related to infrastructure, housing and construction, and financial services. He was previously part of Wells Fargo’s government relations team and is a National Association of Home Builders alum.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Deloitte has hired Logan Tucker as a senior consultant in its Federal Human Capital practice. She most recently served as deputy chief of staff and communications director for Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.).<\/p>\n
\u2014 Hamilton Place Strategies has promoted Julia Decerega and JinAh Kim to directors.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Veronica Bonilla will be director of media relations for BAE Systems. She was most recently media director at the Aerospace Industry Association.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Public affairs firm Prism Group recently added Maggie Ambrose, who previously worked with the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington, as a senior associate, along with senior associate Alexis D’Amato and associate Olivia Lucanie.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Kathryn Mitchell-Thomas is now team chief for research and engineering in the office of the assistant secretary of Defense for legislative affairs, per Playbook. She most recently was a strategic comms consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, and is a Jim Langevin and Albio Sires alum.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Michael Pratt is now senior group director for strategic policy, advocacy and government communicationss at Real Chemistry, Playbook reports. He previously was chief communications officer for Operation Warp Speed in the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Politico.com ,By CAITLIN OPRYSKO<\/p>\n
Presented by Obesity Care Advocacy Network<\/p>\n
With Daniel Lippman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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