From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Months after the Obama administration announced billions of federal dollars for a U.S. high-speed rail system, a new trade association has emerged to help firms get their foot in the door of a potentially lucrative new market," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "'We saw this as the perfect opportunity to go ahead and turn this into an official association and start to bring together some of the experts,' Andy Kunz, president of the newly minted U.S. High-Speed Rail Association, said in an interview last month."

• "The trial of one of Jack Abramoff's close associates -- a case that will test how far lobbyists may push influence and access -- began Tuesday under the watchful eye of K Street," The Hill reports. The associate, Kevin Ring, "says the expensive tickets and meals he gave government officials and congressional aides were normal tools of the lobbying trade. Prosecutors argue they were part of a pay-to-play conspiracy that involved illegal gratuities intended to curry access and influence government action in favor of clients."

• "Lobbyists for banks big and small expect Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and other panel members to offer measures that would go further than the Obama administration in overhauling the existing regulatory scheme," The Hill reports. "Community banks that think their regulatory system works well fear Congress will push them under a single regulator with big banks."