After striking a conciliatory note for most of 2009, the National Federation of Independent Business is now opposing both the House and Senate Democrats' health care reform legislation.
"Small business can't support a proposal that does not address their No. 1 problem: the unsustainable cost of health care," said Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of the NFIB in a statement about the legislation Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., unveiled last night.
Their opposition matters because the 350,000-member group has used its grassroots muscle in years past to oppose legislation, most memorably 15 years ago when it helped play a role in ending then President Clinton's plans for health care reform.
The NFIB joined with other business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to create a coalition called Employers For A Healthy Economy, which has committed to spending as much as $10 million on advertising criticizing the House Democrats plans for health reform.
The NFIB had been working much of this year with Democratic staff, mostly in the Senate, to offer input into the developing health care legislation, and therefore remained conciliatory. We will be watching to see what they do next. I couldn't immediately reach an NFIB official for comment.
Meanwhile my colleague Marilyn Serafini and I have a story in tomorrow's National Journal looking at the NFIB and other groups that will have to be reckoned with for a health care bill to reach President Obama's desk.
Henry "Hank" White Jr., the American Bar Association's executive director, resigned from his position this week, reports the National Law Journal. (subscription)
White's departure follows the September exit of the ABA's chief financial officer, Kenneth Widelka, who was arguably the No. 2 staff official below White.
The Journal says that the executives left as part of a reorganization led by Carolyn Lamm, the president of ABA, who joined the organization in August.
The ABA has 1,000 employees and has a membership of about 400,000.
Information technology lobbying group TechNet has hired Rey Ramsey as the organization's new president and chief executive officer.
Ramsey currently is chief executive officer of One Economy Corp., a global nonprofit that leverages the power of technology to improve the lives of low-income people, which he co-founded in 2000. One Economy brings unserved and underserved communities into the economic mainstream through facilitating affordable at-home broadband access, producing public-purpose media, and training and employing "Digital Connectors," youth aged 14-21, to enhance their communities' technology capacity.
At TechNet, Ramsey will be based in Washington, D.C. where he will oversee the Silicon Valley organization's day-to-day operations, strategic planning and implementation of its public policy and political agenda.
Separately, TechNet also announced that Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel, and Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, will join the organization's executive committee.
(Photo of Ramsey from One Economy website)
RiskMetrics Group has advised its clients to call for the ouster of US Chamber of Commerce chief Tom Donohue from the board of Sunrise Senior Living Inc., due to accounting irregularities at the company, Bloomberg reports.
RiskMetrics advises mutual funds and pension funds on proxy votes. The group "believes that the chronic and serious nature of the accounting issues, potential stock option misdating, and potential insider trading is indicative of a significant lack of oversight on the part of the board," the New York-based firm said in a November 6 report.
Four senior hands will be leaving the American Petroleum Institute by year's end, including Jim Ford, who until early this month was the group's top lobbyist.
After almost a year on the job, API President Jack Gerard has begun to move aggressively to put his stamp on the oil industry association by announcing internally early last week that Ford would be departing, as will Brenda Hargett, the chief financial officer, Jim Craig, vice president of communications and Doug Morris, API's head of exploration and production.
The moves were part of what Gerard in an interview called a "comprehensive reorganization" of API. Gerard indicated that the positions will be filled but that there will be "adjustments in the scope and portfolio" of the jobs. By year's end, Gerard added that "there will be more changes to API's internal organization. We'll reorganize API to run it as effectively and efficiently as we can."
The shakeup was not unexpected. Gerard, a former head of the American Mining Association and the American Chemistry Council, previously changed top staff after he assumed the helm of big trade groups. "He likes to have his own people around him," commented one industry lobbyist. "I think there will be more changes and more reorganizing," the source predicted.
Earlier this month, Gerard signaled his intentions by bringing on Martin Durbin from the chemistry group to be API's new top lobbyist with an expanded portfolio.
Former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran will serve as executive vice president for government affairs at the Career College Association, the group announced Friday. With more than 1,600 member institutions, CCA represents the for-profit sector of private higher education.
Moran brings 13 years of experience in the Virginia House of Delegates and eight years as chairman of its House Democratic Caucus to CCA. "Utilizing his business acumen, interpersonal and communication skills as well as a thirteen-year legislative career, he will be a tremendous asset to the association and the career higher-education sector," said Harris Miller, president and CEO of CCA, in a statement.
CCA has spent north of $167,000 on federal lobbying so far this year.
In a story that probably isn't great public relations for the business community, the Washington Post reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and others have been seeking to collect $50,000 to fund a study that would find the Senate health care reform legislation hurts the economy and will result in lost jobs.
In an e-mail obtained by the Post, a U.S. Chamber employee says the funds would first be used to hire a respected economist to study the legislation.
"Step two, according to the e-mail, appears to assume the outcome of the economic review: "The economist will then circulate a sign-on letter to hundreds of other economists saying that the bill will kill jobs and hurt the economy. We will then be able to use this open letter to produce advertisements, and as a powerful lobbying and grass-roots document."
A newly created coalition called Start Over has launched a multi-state grassroots effort aimed at derailing Senate health care legislation.
The coalition of nearly four dozen Washington business groups was organized by the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation. The participants are pushing their members to contact or meet with senators considered key swing votes in such states as Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana and Nebraska over the Veterans Day recess.The grassroots drive is also expected to be active during the upcoming Thanksgiving recess.
"Our objective is straightforward: We want senators to hear from our members who are their constituents on the type of health care reform they want," says Dirk Van Dongen, the president of the Wholesaler-Distributors. The coalition includes several of the same business groups that recently teamed up with the chamber to start Employers for a Health Economy which last week ran a 19-state ad drive in an unsuccessful effort to block the House from passing its health care reform bill.
In a continuation of a series cross posted from our energy topics page, here is a look at top spending groups involved in the climate change debate.
This analysis excludes individual corporations, such as Exxon Mobil, Chevon and General Electric, who have a hefty financial hand in the energy lobbying arena as well. Those three companies alone have spent between $10 and $20 million so far this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
By constraining the analysis to industry groups and not individual companies, the profiles are more emblematic of the divergent viewpoints lawmakers must grapple with when crafting climate change legislation since they themselves represent different companies. Individual corporations, on the other hand, typically have a more straightforward agenda they're putting forth to Congress.
The following groups ranked 5th through 10th in lobbying spending. Click on each for a profile of the organization and what they want:
5. Association of American Railroads $7.0 million
6. American Petroleum Institute $5.8 million
7. American Chemistry Council $4.9 million
8. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers $4.4 million
9. American Wind Energy Association $3.8 million
10. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association $3.7 million
First it was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's position on climate change legislation, now it's the group's stand on Democrats' health care reform measures that is causing headaches for the lobbying organization.
A group of faith-based institutional investors announced Tuesday they are pressuring 36 corporate members of the U.S. Chamber to publicly state whether the trade group's opposition to the health care bills wending their way through Congress is reflective of their company position on the issue. They are also asking the companies to push the chamber to play a more "helpful" role in the debate.
"Faith based investors already concerned about the 'disconnect' between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its leading members on climate legislation are now troubled to see the same dynamic at work on the health care reform bill," said Laura Berry, executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility."
Berry's group said it has contacted 36 companies by letter or by phone asking them to clarify their position. All of the companies had previously "agreed at the urging of shareholders to embrace health care principles that are now inconsistent with the anti-reform stance" of the chamber.
The companies contacted include AT&T, General Electric, IBM, McDonald's, Merck, Starbucks, Verizon and Wal-Mart .
To see a copy of the letter, click here. The full list of the companies can be found here.
Among the investors sponsoring the letters are the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, Progressive Asset Management and Trillium Asset Management.
Howard Gantman, a former aide to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has been named vice president of corporate communications at the Motion Picture Association of America.Gantman joined the MPAA in August as senior communications consultant and previously was Feinstein's staff director at the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. He also served as staff director of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies where he was responsible for overseeing President Obama's swearing in ceremony. Prior to work the committees, Gantman was Feinstein's communications director for nine years.
"The MPAA is at a critical time in its evolution as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries around the world," Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the MPAA, said in a statement. "Howard's unique combination of expertise in public affairs and communications, will make him a critical player."
In his new position, Gantman will oversee MPAA's communications program in Washington. Elizabeth Kaltman, vice president of corporate communications will oversee MPAA communications in Los Angeles.
In 2007, National Journal profiled (subscription) Gantman as part of our Hill people series.
(Photo of Gantman provided by MPAA)
From our Energy topics page:
Throughout the week, NationalJournal.com will be profiling the 10 energy coalitions that spent the most on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2009. This analysis excludes individual corporations, such as Exxon Mobil, Chevon and General Electric, who have a hefty financial hand in the energy lobbying arena as well. Those three companies alone have spent between $10 and $20 million so far this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
By constraining the analysis to industry groups and not individual companies, the profiles are more emblematic of the divergent viewpoints lawmakers must grapple with when crafting climate change legislation since they themselves represent different companies. Individual corporations, on the other hand, typically have a more straightforward agenda they're putting forth to Congress.
These are groups that ranked eighth, ninth and 10th in lobbying spending, according to the latest disclosure forms. Click on the group to see a profile of what they want.
8. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers $4.4 million
9. American Wind Energy Association $3.8 million
10. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association $3.7 million
Our colleagues at CongressDaily reported this morning on Senate Energy Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer's reaction to a a November 3 letter from the US Chamber of Commerce, praising the bipartisan blueprint for climate change legislation by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham, R-SC. Although the letter was laced with caveats and excluded mention of a "cap-and-trade program," Boxer called it a "game changer."
The chamber has been under pressure from some of its members to relax its adamant opposition to climate change legislation. But outsiders' reactions to the letter ranged from cautious to hostile. On the Natural Resources Defense Counsel blog Switchboard, the group's Climate Campaign Director, Pete Altman, said the group "welcome[d] the US Chamber's desire to sound more constructive," but that "reading in between the lines - and reading the lines themselves - raises big questions about how much the Chamber's objectives have really changed - setting aside their obvious need to strike a more conciliatory tone."
And the free-market oriented Competitive Enterprise Institute put out a press release headlined "U.S. Chamber Caves to Special Interests on Energy-Rationing Legislation" which called on "small businesses to drop their Chamber membership and join CEI in fighting this catastrophic legislation."
A new business coalition that's led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and includes 10 other K Street powerhouses has launched a multimillion dollar national cable and local advertising drive in 19 states and 46 media markets that's aimed at blocking passage of the House health care reform bill which is slated to be voted on this weekend.
The coalition, Employers for a Healthy Economy which also includes such big groups as the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and the National Retail Federation, intends to have the ads air through Sunday but might extend the buy if the vote on the House bill is delayed past this weekend.
National Journal is hearing that the initial ad buy will cost about $10 million but the exact numbers aren't public.
The ads argue that the House bill could lead to "millions of new lost jobs" and would mean tax increases and new mandates on business that would worsen the overall economy. The business community is especially worried about two parts of the House bill: its robust public option and a new "pay to play" mandate that would require companies to either provide insurance to employees or pay a penalty of 8 percent of their total payroll.
The association sector spent 14 percent more on lobbying in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, led by big spending at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Beverage Association and the National Association of Manufacturers, CEO Update reported. (subscription)
Without those three associations however, lobbying at associations dropped 4.2 percent in the third quarter, CEO Update said.
The story was of interest because I report in this week's National Journal, (subscription) that activity was picking up on K Street for many hired guns during the third quarter. The trade association world doesn't seem to be sharing in that uptick in business yet.
If you think the health care reform fight has been aggressive, hear this: The lobbying war over climate change could be even nastier.
The climate bill battle has fractured partisan, geographic and industry allegiances; thrown erstwhile enemies into strange-bedfellow partnerships; and sparked allegations of dirty tricks on both sides of the debate. And this is just the beginning.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a 36-page civil complaint demanding a jury trial of the Yes Men, activist hoaxers who staged a fake press conference announcing a fictitious Chamber about-face on climate change two weeks ago. The Chamber is already reeling from member defections over its climate bill opposition.
On the flip side, Washington lobbyist Jack Bonner and coal industry organizer Steve Miller were excoriated on Capitol Hill last week by lawmakers who accused them of deceptive practices. At a hearing before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, lawmakers grilled Bonner and Miller about more than half a dozen faked anti-climate bill letters sent to Capitol Hill purportedly from civil rights and civic leaders.
Both controversies signal a rough-and-tumble climate bill fight ahead, with the full range of pressure tactics thrown into the mix. By nature, environmental policy disputes tend to break down along unpredictable partisan and geographic lines, and that has been especially true for the cap-and-trade climate bill now wending its way through Congress.
The Yes Men stunt raises questions about misrepresentation in lobbying and when it strays over the line.
Democrats have squabbled among themselves; Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have declared themselves willing to work with Democrats, angering some in their own party; and environmental groups have forged new partnerships with industry players promoting green energy.
Continue reading Climate Change Advocacy Is Off To Ugly Start.
UPDATE@4:19 PM. We got a call from the Mortgage Bankers who said the purchase price was $76 million, not the $100 million reported by the Post.
The Mortgage Bankers Association, which has been reeling from the recession, told its members that will put its recently-purchased headquarters up for sale.
We reported in February that the MBA was experiencing real estate problems of its own and was having difficulty finding tenants to fill its 12-story building at 1331 L Street. The association purchased the property in May 2008, right before the collapse in the market.
"These factors, coupled with a challenging leasing environment, led the MBA board to conclude that continued ownership of 1331 L Street was economically imprudent," CEO John Courson wrote to members.
According to an April 2008 Washington Post story, MBA paid about $100 million for the building.
The MBA paid $76 million for the building.
The Internet Innovation Alliance Tuesday named David Sutphen co-chairman. He succeeds Larry Irving, who stepped down to become vice president of global government affairs at Hewlett Packard.
Sutphen will work with co-chair and co-founder Bruce Mehlman to promote broadband availability and adoption across the U.S. Mehlman is a co-founder of lobbying firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.
"Today, [broadband] delivers critical health care, education and employment opportunities as well as the compelling news and entertainment content we all demand," said Sutphen in a statement. "Our challenge is to ensure that all people, regardless of race, income or geography, are benefiting from this revolution."
Sutphen is a partner at public affairs firm Brunswick Group. He was formerly with Viacom and the Recording Industry Association of America. Earlier in his career, Sutphen was a staffer for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Sutphen is also the brother of Monica Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff. In addition, he recently was part of a board that created of a new business trade group called Business Forward. See Tech Daily Dose's coverage of the group here.
Karen Ignani, chief of America's Health Insurance Plans, insists her industry hasn't walked away from the negotiating table. But a hired hand appears to be promoting a scorched-earth policy against Democrats.
The Huffington Post reports today that Steve Champlin, a lobbyist for the Duberstein Group who represents AHIP, declared that the road to a bipartisan health care reform bill is dead.
"There is absolutely no interest, no reason Republicans should ever vote for this thing. They have gone from a party that got killed 11 months ago to a party that is rising today," Champlin is quoted in remarks at an opening session of AHIP's annual State Issues Conference.
Doug Pinkham, president of the Public Affairs Council has an interesting post on his blog about the heat the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been taking in Washington.
"Every political drama needs a villain. As the White House and Congress face a series of major public policy debates, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - fairly or unfairly - has become this week's bad guy," Pinkham says.
Click here to read more of Pinkham's post.
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesman said on Monday that a statement put out earlier by another group that the Chamber no longer opposed climate change legislation was a "hoax."
My colleague Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic writes this post.
"U.S. Chamber of Commerce is throwing its weight behind strong climate legislation"
The headline, if true, would be a news story indeed: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, according to a press release e-mailed to journalists this morning, had decided to reverse its opposition to strong climate change legislation. But that's false. Some unknown group decided to punk the Chamber. And in the process, at least one news organization, Reuters, fell for it.
For full disclosure, I was one of the reporters that was duped and I immediately removed the post from our blog.
The Chamber of Commerce's new free enterprise PR campaign kicked off Wednesday with soft-focus TV ads. The next steps include outreach to legislators in states eager for job growth and to schools graduating young professionals who expect government -- not business -- to generate new jobs, chamber officials said.
Officials downplayed the potential for the multi-year, anti-regulation campaign with the motto "American Free Enterprise. Dream Big" to generate conflict between the chamber and the regulation-friendly Obama White House.
The new campaign was rolled out at a well-attended event in the chamber's D.C. headquarters. The TV advertising features female entrepreneurs, small businesses, and a call for policies that would help business create 20 million new jobs over the next decade. The TV advertising is aimed at a national audience, and will be placed alongside evening-news programs in many states, a chamber official said. "We'll spend what have to do... it won't be a problem to get a reasonable amount of money," said chamber CEO Tom Donohue.
Sources reported to us earlier that the association of businesses is trying to raise $100 million for the effort.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an ad campaign today to promote free enterprise and the idea that business, not government, is the key to economic recovery, CongressDaily reported. (subscription)
Chamber President Tom Donohue declined to put a price tag on the campaign, which involves television commercials and grassroots efforts calling for less government regulation and lower taxes. But he told U.S. News and World Report last month the organization plans to spend $25 million a year on the program for several years.
Donohue said the Chamber plans to contact lawmakers to try to make them consider the "free enterprise" consequences of every vote they take.
It's President Obama versus the lobbyists again.
Obama on Friday afternoon criticized the U.S.Chamber of Commerce for running advertisements opposing his administration's plan to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency for investors. He called the ads "false."
"Predictably, a lot of the banks and big financial firms don't like the idea of a consumer agency very much," Obama said in remarks in the White House to talk about the new agency. "In fact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending millions on an ad campaign to kill it. You might have seen some of these ads -- the ones that claim that local butchers and other small businesses somehow will be harmed by this agency. This is, of course, completely false -- and we've made clear that only businesses that offer financial services would be affected by this agency."
He then went on blast lobbyists in the financial services sector in general.
"All this hasn't stopped the big financial firms and their lobbyists from mobilizing against change. They're doing what they always do -- descending on Congress, using every bit of influence they have to maintain the status quo that has maximized their profits at the expense of American consumers, despite the fact that recently a whole bunch of those same American consumers bailed them out as a consequence of the bad decisions that they made. And since they're worried they may not be able to kill this agency, they're trying their hardest to weaken it -- by asking for exemptions from this agency's rules and enforcement; by fighting to keep every gap and loophole they can find."
Cross posted from our energy topics page:
Seeking to turn the tables in the controversy over high-profile defections from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Tom Donohue told reporters today that members are facing orchestrated pressure from environmental groups to quit the chamber and that his organization fully supports taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In an hour-long sit-down with about a dozen reporters this morning at the chamber's headquarters, Donohue repeatedly said that he's "not particularly worried" about the recent defections, which have included Apple and the major utilities Exelon, PNM Resources and Pacific Gas & Electric.
"I'm worried about making sure people understand what we believe, what we're trying to achieve and who we're trying to do this for," he said. He didn't, however, say which environmental groups were pressuring the chamber's members.
With the big rollout for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's much touted project to build a national grassroots movement to back "free enterprise" in areas ranging from trade to regulation to taxation set for Oct. 14, the group's feisty leader Tom Donohue earlier this month penned a memo to his board to inform them fundraising efforts "focused on individuals who have done exceedingly well in a free enterprise system, are right on target."
To sustain the multi-year effort, which will feature lots of expensive ads on television and other media, the Chamber is trying to raise some $100 million--without poaching too much on its traditional corporate base of financing lest it "rob Peter to pay Paul," says one source.
Dubbed "American Free Enterprise--Dream Big," the Chamber has spent long hours previewing the campaign for its executive committee and this week is hosting a session in California where more details are being provided at the group's semi annual meeting of its "committee of 100." It's official launch is Oct. 14, the group announced today.
Donohue's seven page memo to the Chamber board also includes some interesting tidbits about other top issues on its agenda such as health care and free trade plus a somewhat combative discussion of the recent defections of a few big Chamber members including PG&E and Apple over the business lobby's stance on climate change issues.
In Donohue's view, the departures and the media coverage of them are "an outgrowth of an orchestrated campaign by some environmental groups to pressure companies and the Chamber into supporting specific approaches to climate change that we believe just wouldn't work--such as the House passed Waxman-Markey bill or EPA's go-it- alone effort to impose costly new greenhouse gas regulations across our society without legislation."
See memo here. Chamber memo.pdf
(Photo of Donohue by Liz Lynch)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's CEO Thomas Donohue sent the following letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs in response to the company's decision to drop its membership in the business group over its stance on climate change legislation.
See the letter in full and after the jump:
Mr. Steven P. Jobs
Chief Executive Officer
Apple Inc.
One Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Dear Mr. Jobs:
I am sorry to learn of Apple's resignation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is unfortunate that your company didn't take the time to understand the Chamber's position on climate and forfeited the opportunity to advance a 21st century approach to climate change.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues to support strong federal legislation and a binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. Furthermore, we believe that Congress should set climate change policy through legislation, rather than having the EPA apply existing environmental statutes that were not created to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This is also the stated position of the President and Congressional leaders.
Your letter states that "Apple is committed to the environment and the communities in which we operate around the world." So is the Chamber but we are also committed to preserving the competitiveness and prosperity of the communities and businesses in our nation.
While we do support legislation to address climate change, we oppose legislation such as the Waxman-Markey bill that numerous studies show will cause Americans to lose their jobs and shift greenhouse gas emissions overseas, negating potential climate benefits. An effective climate change response must include all major CO2 emitting economies, promote new technologies, emphasize efficiency, ensure affordable energy for families and businesses, and defend American jobs while returning our economy to prosperity.
Continue reading U.S. Chamber CEO Responds To Apple Departure.
Apple Computer is the latest company to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the group's stance on climate change legislation, highlighting the ongoing internal dissension within the business lobbying group on its advocacy approach to legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gases.
The story was broken by the New York Times. See here.
Apple joins Pacific Gas & Energy, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Exelon in withdrawing from the group over the issue. Nike last week withdrew from the board of the chamber but remains a member.
In response to Apple's move, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. and chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said:
"While the U.S. Chamber has been looking to shoot down clean energy legislation at every turn, the defection of more and more companies over these issues are turning them into an 'empty chamber.'"
"We need a constructive discussion of the issues, not scare-mongering and Scopes monkey trials. Clean energy represents the future of business, and American companies and workers are ready to lead the world in the race for new technologies."
Nike joined the growing number of companies expressing unhappiness about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's position on climate change legislation and announced it is resigning from the group's board of directors.
"We fundamentally disagree with the US Chamber of Commerce on the issue of
climate change and their recent action challenging the EPA is inconsistent with our view that climate change is an issue in need of urgent action," the company said in a statement.
Nike said it will still retain its membership in the business lobbying association. Two companies, PG&E and Exelon, over the past week, announced they were pulling their membership from the Chamber because of the group's stance on climate change legislation.
Cross posted from our energy topics blog:
In response to the announcement Monday by electric utility Exelon that it's leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of differences over climate change legislation, Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer David Chavern said that while the move was "unfortunate," it's being overplayed by the media.
"We have 300,000 direct members. We represent over 3 million companies around the world," Chavern told NationalJournal.com Monday afternoon. "We have companies that disagree with the Chamber all the time. And members leave, and that's unfortunate. But we add more companies than we lose. It's just part of the business."
Speaking at a conference in Chicago this morning, Exelon Chairman and CEO John Rowe said that "inaction on climate is not an option. If Congress does not act, the EPA will, and the result will be more arbitrary, more expensive, and more uncertain for investors and the industry than a reasonable, market-based legislative solution."
Chavern disputed claims that the Chamber is blocking climate efforts. He said that his organization isn't against any one type of scheme, but doesn't support the House cap-and-trade bill because it doesn't focus enough on new technology and would "impose immediate and insurmountable costs on the economy."
He expressed openness to some of the broader strategies that have been proposed to curb greenhouse gas emissions. "You could develop a cap-and-trade system that worked or a carbon tax system that worked," Chavern said. "The devil is in the details."
With the news today that one of the U.S.'s largest utilities, Exelon, is dropping its membership to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, I thought our readers would be interested in a story that ran on National Public Radio this morning regarding the association's CEO Thomas Donohue.
The story said environmentalists and others are concerned about whether Donohue can be an unbiased leader on the climate change debate because he sits on the board of Union Pacific, which has a stake in the outcome of the debate.
Exelon CEO John Rowe said he won't renew membership in the business group because of its opposition to climate change legislation. Exelon follows utility company PG&E, which announced it was pulling out of the U.S. Chamber last week because of the group's opposition to similiar legislation.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America continues to pour millions of dollars into ads backing parts of the Obama administration's health care reform effort and the work of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
In mid-September, PhRMA launched another round of ads which are slated to run for about four weeks in 14 to 17 states and cost some $9.4 million, say industry insiders. Many of the commercials are running in states of Democratic and Republican moderates who are still considered in play in the Senate as it edges closer to voting on health care reform legislation.
From National Journal's TechDailyDose:
Former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who was tapped last week to become the new head of the National Association of Broadcasters spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since being named to the post. His conversation with the press, which followed an appearance at NAB's Radio Show in Philadelphia, included a bit of perspective on legislation that would impose new fees on AM and FM stations. NAB has been lobbying hard against the bill, which broadcasters say could do great harm. The music industry has argued paying a royalty is only fair since other platforms already pay performers for the songs they play. Click here to read more of Andrew Noyes's story.
TVNewsCheck also covers Smith's chat with the press and includes more detail about Smith's bio, how he'll be handling the two-year ban on lobbying by former senators, and how much he is getting paid to represent the broadcasters -- more than $800,000. Click here to read the story.
PG&E Corp. is leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over objections to what its top executive called the chamber's "extreme position on climate change," CNN reported.
In a letter to the U.S. Chamber published on PG&E's blog, PG& E Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Darbee cited "fundamental differences" over climate change to explain why the company is pulling out of the organization, despite the Chamber's "long history as a positive force for America's businesses and its economy."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce didn't hear much to get excited about in President Barack Obama's health care address to Congress.
In a memo Thursday to K Street colleagues, the group's top lobbyist, Bruce Josten, called the speech "persuasively delivered," but added that the president "did not lay out a plan for health care reform." He further wrote that, based on the principles that Obama enunciated, the president "should oppose the current partisan plans produced by the House and the [Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions]." Josten concluded Obama should ask Congress to "go back to the drawing board and develop a bipartisan solution that can actually achieve the goals he laid out."
Last month, the chamber ran $15 million worth of ads in 21 states arguing that current health care reform bills would mean big tax increases, more government control and larger deficits.
Click here for memo.
UPDATED @ 11:53 AM to add AARP spokesman Drew Nannis's comment.
Don't put the brakes on health care reform. AARP, the nation's most powerful seniors' association, launched a multimillion-dollar campaign this morning to debunk so-called myths surrounding the health care debate. Founded in 1958, AARP has 40 million members in offices in all 50 states.
Leaving no media format untapped, AARP's 'myths versus fact' advertising will run on national and local television and radio, in print publications and online. In an attack against largely conservative ideas, AARP is attempting to dismantle the notions that health care reform is not affordable to fix right now, equals the end of Medicare, and will lead to a government takeover as well as rationed care.
Click here to see all of the ad materials.
In a big grassroots push, AARP activists will take action in every state to make sure all lawmakers know that the 50-plus community wants action on healthcare reform now. For the first half of 2009, AARP spent upwards of $9 million on federal lobbying.
"It's critical that people have the information about the proposals currently being debated in Congress," said Drew Nannis, spokesperson for AARP. "There is a lot of misinformation out there, and people need to make decisions based on accurate information, not myths, lies, and scare tactics."
Former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has been tapped to aid the Chamber of Commerce's new advocacy campaign against government growth as executive vice president of the National Chamber Foundation, a non-profit public policy think tank affiliated with the Chamber.Spellings was the second secretary of education under former President George W. Bush. She joined the Chamber in April as a senior advisor to its president and CEO, and will continue in her position as president and CEO of her public policy consulting firm Margaret Spellings and Company, according to the Chamber.
Before serving as education secretary, Spellings helped shape the No Child Left Behind Act as assistant to President Bush for domestic policy. She also served as a senior adviser working on education issues during his governorship.
In her new role, Spelling will help reach out to universities and colleges in support of the Campaign for Free Enterprise, a multi-year $100 million effort slated to launch this fall.
The Spellings announcement follows a few other high-profile hires for the effort.
(Photo of Spellings courtesy of Creative Commons)
Health insurers are pushing back against increasingly fiery rhetoric from some Democrats accusing insurance companies of blocking health reform, reports CongressDailyPM. (subscription)
"At this point in the summer of 2009 the country should be in the midst of a transformative national conversation about health reform," Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, said. "Instead, a campaign has been launched to demonize health plans."
Insurers back a series of regulatory reforms that would end exclusions for pre-existing conditions, eliminate ratings based on gender and other factors, and reduce premium growth rates.
But they oppose including a public option in an overall package. "The almost singular focus on the issue of whether we should have a government program or not, and the fact that that has become a litmus test for reform, is crowding out the very significant consensus that exists," Ignagni said
She said during August, AHIP would continue airing a positive TV ad that it first began airing two weeks ago that aims to inform people on how health insurers have been participating in health care reform. She said the group will try to communicate to average Americans that insurance plans favor comprehensive health reform and have been trying to promote a bipartisan consensus.
She also said that while AHIP was sending its supporters to Democrats' town hall meetings on health care during August, it had nothing to do with protesters organized by Conservatives for Patients' Rights, who have been disrupting those meetings.
Click here for story. (subscription)
Music and broadcasting industry lobbyists have ramped up their rhetoric ahead of Tuesday afternoon's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation that would end a royalty exemption extended to AM and FM radio, according to CongressDaily's AM Edition (subscription required). The bills Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers introduced in February would bring over-the-air radio in line with cable, Internet and satellite services, which pay performers -- but broadcasters warn some stations could go out of business. (Cross posted from TechDailyDose)
My Atlantic Monthly colleague Marc Ambinder posted an interesting interview Friday with Karen Ignagni, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) which represents the majority of health insurers in the U.S.
Ignagni told Ambinder that her group isn't going to run negative ads against health reform during the August recess, though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the White House have recently begun calling health insurers the prime obstacle to getting a deal done.
Liberal blogs are abuzz with stories today saying health insurers, D.C. lobbyists and opponents of health care reform are preparing to send people to town hall meetings at congressional districts this month to disrupt discussions on the issue, prompting Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. to respond. See this post on ThinkProgress, the blog for the Center for American Progress.
Ignagni is holding a press briefing Tuesday morning, to discuss "the status of health care reform." I am sure the question of whether or not the industry is launching attack ads will come up.
The Washington Post also had an interview with an AHIP board member on whether or not the insurers would launch attack ads:
More blunt in an interview today was a member of AHIP's board of directors, James Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt who runs the Tufts Health Plan in Massachusetts and is a longtime Democratic National Committee official. He said he had no problem with reform proponents shifting the framing of the debate to "health insurance reform." But, he added, the increasingly harsh anti-industry bent to the rhetoric was "offensive."
"I like the focus on health insurance as opposed to trying to accomplish everything at once in trying to reorder health care -- this is the great trap that Democrats fall into, that they try to change the system as a whole, and then people get scared and it falls to pieces," he said. "But the part about calling insurers villains and morally bankrupt I find offensive and ineffective. The polling says we're an easy target, and it's easy to see the political motivation, that to get this to the goal line you need to create a villain. But I do worry that that does ramp up the opposition as much as it ramps up support."
Were his colleagues on AHIP discussing jettisoning their collaborative stance for full-bore opposition? "What I see is people being very irritated but so far staying committed to universal coverage and the things you have to do to get there," he said.
The US Chamber of Commerce is moving ahead with its plans to launch its Free Enterprise public relations offensive this fall.
The effort has a new field marshall: Brian Gunderson, a former chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and before that, to then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. He also worked for House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.
The campaign is in the process of talking to various PR firms and pollsters, says Chamber Senior Vice President for Communications and Strategy, Tom Collamore. It has held focus groups and plans "listening sessions" with small businesses. The current plan is to promote the campaign with some high profile speeches in September, and have a splashy launch in October.
The fight between brand name companies and generics isn't the only fallout from the growing importance of biotech drugs in the marketplace. Look for growing rivalries between the Biotechnology Industry Organization and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The biotech industry focuses on medicines made of proteins and genes, rather than conventional chemical compound drugs.
Swiss-based Roche Group, an old line drug company and major PhRMA member recently quit the organization after acquiring Genentech, part of the bio-tech vanguard and a BIO member, as reported by the The Star Ledger of Newark, N.J. in late June.
PhRMA CEO and former Rep. Billy Tauzin,R-La., sent the group's chairman to Roche headquarters in Basel in a bid to stop the defection, but Roche joined BIO anyway, the paper reported. "Without Roche, PhRMA also loses critical revenue for carrying out its lobbying activities," the story said, adding that Tauzin wouldn't disclose Roche's membership fees, which are based on a company's annual sales.
PhRMA still represents about 72 percent of the industry, the paper noted--but could other defections be looming?
When National Journal called PhRMA, spokesman Ken Johnson was playing down the significance of Roche's departure. "We have members that come and go every year, and we also signed up four more" Johnson said, adding that most of PhRMA's newer members are biotech firms.
Earlier this month, shortly after Roche's departure was announced, PhRMA announced that it was creating a new "committee on small biopharmaceutical companies" focused on "developing solutions to policy issues that are most important" to these companies.
Johnson said the timing was coincidental: "This has been in the works for months. It is designed to give some of the smaller companies a larger voice."
TechNet's search for a new president and CEO has turned up a number of qualified candidates but the high-tech lobbying group's board has apparently not yet settled on one. The bipartisan political network of Silicon Valley CEOs and senior executives enlisted professional search firm Korn/Ferry International after its former chief, Lezlee Westine, announced her departure in April. She became CEO of the Personal Care Products Council and took TechNet's Washington-based fundraiser Meredith Simpson with her.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday afternoon it will launch a new advertising campaign opposing the creation of a government-backed health insurance option to compete with the private sector in health care reform.
The business group is initially spending $2 million on print and online ads aimed at generating grassroots support for its position in five states where it has the strongest bulwark: Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine and North Carolina.
The tagline of the ads will be "Don't Bring Down Health Care Reform," said Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the chamber.
Josten said that every time a lawmaker has expressed concern about a public plan, the member has been subjected to attack ads from labor and progress groups calling them opponents of health care reform.
"We want to make sure that we don't just sit here and allow [progressive groups] to have a monologue [with lawmakers] with one message," Josten said.
The campaign is named "Campaign for Responsible Health Reform" and is separate from the $100 million campaign launched last month by the chamber called the "Campaign For Free Enterprise."
UPDATE: Second quarter 2009 lobbying figures
As Under The Influence reported yesterday, the Senate Office of Public Records is processing all of the lobbying disclosure forms due Monday and we have a new top ten list as of this morning.
Coming in first place, as was the case last quarter, is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with $7.4 million. The Chamber in June announced that it was going to be spending as much as $100 million on a campaign to protect "free enterprise."
Six of the top ten spenders in the second quarter were either in the health or oil industry. Big health spenders include the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Pfizer and the American Medical Association. Chevron dropped to fifth place (still at $6 million) and its petrol brethren, Exxon Mobil and BP America, came in at eighth and ninth respectively.
So far, 120 groups spent at least a million on lobbying in the second quarter and of that 120, National Journal identified 22 groups that are related to health care.
Full top ten list here:
1. U.S. Chamber of Commerce - $7.4 million
2. General Electric - $7.2 million
3. PhRMA - $6.2 million
4. Business Roundtable - $6.1 million
5. Chevron - $6 million
6. Pfizer - $5.6 million
7. AARP - $5.3 million
8. Exxon Mobil - $4.3 million
9. BP America - $4 million
10. American Medical Association - $3.9 million
We will keep updating our data as the Senate continues to process the lobbying filings.
In an important boost for congressional Democrats, the influential American Medical Association announced Thursday afternoon it is backing House Democrats health care reform legislation which is now moving through the committee process.
That means the doctors group is now supporting a public health insurance plan option that is aimed at competing with the private sector. Initially, the AMA had said it had concerns about such a plan.
The move is likely to increase friction at the AMA. CongressDailyAM reported that a coalition of seventeen state medical associations and three specialty physicians' groups were planning to unequivocally oppose a government-administered insurance plan.
On Wednesday, AMA President J. James Rohack issued a statement saying:
"At our annual meeting in June, AMA physician delegates voted for AMA to support health system reform alternatives consistent with principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of practice, and universal access for patients. This evolution in policy is consistent with the AMA's strong support for health reform this year that provides high-quality health care coverage for all Americans."
Click here for more of CongressDaily's story.
Some foreign-owned companies who thought the worst was over after this winter's "Buy American" debate were taken aback in recent months as they began applying for stimulus dollars: they discovered the agencies doling out grants and contracts sometimes specify that "foreign entities" need not apply, even though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act doesn't itself exclude foreign-owned companies.
In most cases, reading the fine print rouses sighs of relief at foreign-owned companies. Those setting their sights on National Institute of Health grants, for instance, are pleased to learn that although the organization bars "foreign institutions" from applying for certain funds, NIH defines companies located in the United States that employ Americans as "domestic organizations" even if they're foreign-owned.
Nevertheless, eyebrows shot up when Department of Energy projects funded by stimulus dollars stuck to a broader definition of "foreign entity." This definition included firms "directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a foreign company or government," restricting such companies as Bosch, Saint-Gobain, Royal Philips Electronics, and BASF from acting as the lead organization on certain stimulus-funded Energy projects.
If the definition lost these companies an opportunity, it gained them an extra pair of eyes: Nancy McLernon, the president and CEO of the Organization for International Investment, who is now on watch for other agency stipulations that limit foreign-owned companies from applying for stimulus funds.
"We want to make sure it doesn't build into a trend," she said.
(Photo of Nancy McLernon provided by OFII)
Continue reading Foreign Companies Still Fear 'Buy America'.
A new group called the Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association Americas Inc. has been launched to represent five North American "inter-dealer" brokers.
The five founding members are BGC Partners, CFI Group, ICAP, Tradition, and Tullett Prebon. Inter-dealer brokers are intermediaries between dealers in "over-the counter" markets, where securities are traded in formats other than futures or stock exchanges. The association will be represented by Patton Boggs in Washington.
According to Bloomberg News, inter-dealer brokers pair bids and offers between the world's largest banks in derivatives markets that have no public exchanges such as credit-default swaps and interest-rate products. Unlike traders and investment bankers, the brokers don't take on risk or devise trading strategies for their clients.
The American Chemistry Council hired Don Thoren as managing director of the chemical industry lobbying group's newly created political mobilization department.
Thoren is to build the new field-oriented, campaign style department which aims to bolster the American Chemistry Council's relationships with lawmakers in their home states and districts.
For the past eight years, Thoren has been the district director of state and government affairs and the director of political outreach and communications for Altria Client Services. Prior to that, he worked at SWR Worldwide and the National Restaurant Association.
ACC also hired Tre' Riddle as director of federal affairs. Riddle most recently was the legislative director for Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. and before that worked for Democratic Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif., Robert Andrews, D-N.J. and Robert Scott, D-Va.
National Retail Federation President and CEO Tracy Mullin sent an open letter on July 13 to its members condemning Wal-Mart for its decision two weeks ago to embrace an employer mandate as a part of health care reform.
"We knew going up against Wal-Mart would raise some eyebrows - and it did," Mullin writes in the letter. "But, simply put, we could not condone the decision of one retailer, even the largest retailer in the world, if it would come at the expense of everyone else. So, we spoke up."
Mullin goes on to say that it is imperative that businesses, associations and politicians "not shy away from deal-breakers like employer mandates."
See the letter here.
An open letter from Tracy Mullin about Wal-Mart and employer mandates for health care.pdfWal-Mart is not a member of the NRF, which traditionally has represented department store companies like Macy's and JCPenney's.
On June 30, Wal-Mart, along with the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress, sent a letter to President Obama supporting the employer mandate, requiring businesses to provide health care coverage to their employees. The move, which marked an unlikely alliance between the retail giant and two liberal groups surprised much of Washington's business community lobby which has been unanimously opposed to an employer mandate.
The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (of which Wal-Mart is a member) called off their merger plans, just six days before that letter to the White House. Mullin had planned to retire after the merger, but has since put off those plans.
From this week's National Journal: (subscription)
As I wrote in the June 13 issue of National Journal, everyone in Washington has been expecting that after months of harmony between Congress and the White House, interest groups working on health care reform were soon going to begin acting like interest groups and stake out their opposition to measures as they began moving on Capitol Hill. (See our magazine story here, subscription-only)
Clearly this was the week interest groups began shifting from harmony to discord. In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce condemned aspects of the House Democratic health care proposal. The group is strongly opposed to a provision that would pay for the plan through an employer mandate.
"Congress is divorced from reality on this issue," said Randal Johnson, senior vice president at the Chamber testified, according to CongressDaily. (See subscription-only story here.)
The National Federation of Independent Business also sent out a press release calling the House health care bill "bad" for small business. "As the U.S. House official begins to discuss and develop its approach to addressing the health care crisis, one thing is clear - small business owners need meaningful reform. Sadly, many of the provisions in this draft bill fall far short of achieving those goals," said Brad Close, vice president of public policy for the NFIB.
Officials for both AHIP and NFIB stressed however that they still want to work with Congress on finding agreement.
"Is the 'kumbaya' moment over? Honestly, I don't know," said NFIB spokeswoman Stephanie Cathcart.
"What I do know is that we are in the early innings of what will be a
very long ball game. From what we've seen so far, small business
(sadly) is down in the [score], but we are working to make a late
inning push and ensure that we help our nation's job creators."
Added AHIP spokesman Robert Zirkelbach:
"The point needs to be made that there is still a great deal of
consensus on a broad framework for comprehenisve health care reform.
Unfortunately, the discussion around a government-run plan has clouded
all of the areas where there is consensus."
On Tuesday, America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association wrote a joint letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee expressing "strong concern" about committee plans to add a public plan option to the legislation as well as other measures. Click below for letter.
Health Insurers Letter To HLP Committee.pdfContinue reading Lobbyists Find Much To Dislike In Health Bills.
In a new survey released by Zogby International today, over 60 percent of business executives said that the employer-based health care-system is not sustainable in the long term. The Committee for Economic Development (CED), a non-profit business-led public policy organization, commissioned the poll. Administered from June 1 through June 12, the poll surveyed senior level executives' attitudes on healthcare and health insurance.
Among the findings, 60.3 percent of respondents support a market-based system of competing plans--similar to coverage offered to lawmakers where the government organizes a menu of private insurance plans from which each may choose. Support for the kind of health coverage the government offers is a clear change from the status quo, says the CED.
"According to the best data we have been able to find, more than 77 percent of all private employees who have health insurance have no choice about their health insurance carrier," said Joseph J. Minarik, Senior Vice President and Director of Research for CED, "In other words, there is no competition."
He added that employers would like to offer their employees more health care options than are currently available.
Just who has left the office of Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. to lobby on health care issues? The question is important as he is playing a leading role in shaping health care reform legislation.
To answer that, the Sunlight Foundation has come up with an interesting way to visualize the revolving door and lobbyists' connections to Baucus. Five former staffers currently work for a total of twenty-seven different organizations that are either in the health care or insurance industry, according to first quarter 2009 lobbying disclosure forms analyzed by the Foundation. The organizations represented include some of the top lobbying organizations in the health sector: Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Researchers of America (PhRMA), America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Amgen, and GE Health Care.
Click here to see the graphic.
(Photo of Baucus courtesy of Creative Commons)
The U.S. Travel Association has used a novel tactic to find a new grassroots "lobbyist" to tell its story better on Capitol Hill -- it held a video contest on YouTube.The winner, by 16,000 votes, was Paco Saldana, an immigrant from Mexico who worked himself up the ladder from bus boy to director of guest services at the Ritz-Carlton hotel on Amelia Island, Fla. His video told the story of the negative impact the economy has had on his hotel and Amelia Island. Saldana said a couple of Ritz-Carlton managers urged him to submit a video for the contest because "they thought I had a good story to tell." The hotel has had to cut its staff to 500 from 700 a year ago.
See the video here.
(Photo of Saldana courtesy of U.S. Travel Association)
Continue reading Association Holds Contest To Find Lobbyist.
About 50 people attended last Friday afternoon's meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where business groups were invited to discuss the state of play on health care reform on Capitol Hill.
The discussion was aimed at getting K Street's biggest trade associations on the same page with regard to opposing certain measures that are being considered in the House and Senate.
"There's an emerging consensus that the bills seem to be going in a way that we don't like," said chamber Vice President Randy Johnson. "We need to be more aggressive in making our views known to the committees of jurisdiction in a formal way. There will be stepped-up visits with possible allies in both parties on the committees of jurisdiction. Given what other groups are doing there's a need to step up the pace."
Representatives of trade groups were asked to get more directly involved in the health care debate this week as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee begins to mark up a bill. Particularly, they were asked to send letters to Capitol Hill and the White House if the marked-up bill contains a public plan option and an employer mandate.
Health insurers and Republicans have been clear that they oppose a Medicare-style insurance plan for all, which was included in the initial drafts of the HELP committee's bill. The actual bill, introduced by the committee didn't contain either measure, to allow Republicans to offer their ideas, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. said last week. Whether the HELP bill will contain such an insurance option isn't yet clear.
The business community is also against a measure that would mandate that employers provide health insurance and if they don't, require them to pay into a fund that would be used to help the uninsured get coverage.
"This meeting was not designed to build the anti-reform coalition or to replace existing reform coalitions," said one attendee. "Rather the meeting was designed to build a common communications front across industries and coalitions to help salvage positive reform from the punitive excess seen in many of the reform measures - if at all possible."
The public plan and the employer mandate aren't the only issues of concern to business groups, but for the moment these are the hot-button worries for many on K Street.
At least one attendee wished this meeting had occurred earlier this year. "I think this is terribly late," said one lobbyist who participated. "My druthers would have been to have these contingency plan discussions months ago." But he added that at least the talks are now underway. "Better late than never."
Separately, the chamber President Tom Donohue appeared on 'Fox News Sunday' yesterday saying that U.S. capitalism is threatened by new regulations and mandates, and highlighted his group's $100 million national ad campaign to warn Congress and the Obama administration that any new health care reform package and global warmining bills must not hurt the competitive position of American businesses, Politico reported.
President Obama attempted to sell the American Medical Association today on the idea of a public insurance option, a central component of his healthcare overhaul plan. "The public option is not your enemy; it is your friend, I believe," he told members gathered at their conference in Chicago, CongressDailyPM reported. (subscription)
See the transcript of Obama's speech here.
Obama tried to address concerns that a public option would pay Medicare rates considered too low by most healthcare providers and would result in a single-payer system in which health care is a function solely of the federal government.
AMA began debating its official position on a public option Sunday and plans to vote on a resolution that will express its position in a few days.
Read the rest of the story here. (subscription)
CongressDaily also has an excellent page on the web devoted to health care reform coverage.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hosting a meeting this afternoon to discuss if and how the business community should work together to oppose elements of health care reform legislation, which is rapidly moving along in Congress. The first Senate bill on health care reform dropped this week and more is coming next week.
Among the 30-to-40 groups expected to convene at the Chamber's downtown offices are: the National Federation of Independent Business; the National Retail Federation; the Business Roundtable; and the American Benefits Council. They are expected to convene at 3 p.m. to talk about the state of play on Capitol Hill and where the battle lines should be drawn, if needed.
Up to now, the business community has been fairly mute about its mounting concerns over health care legislation, as many on K Street wanted to see what legislation congressional Democrats would champion. Further, health care costs have been taking a huge toll on businesses and many wanted to be cooperative with lawmakers. Now that legislation is dropping, business groups have decided they need to gather and discuss their next steps.
"We invited a wide swatch of the business community to share their concerns about the pending legislation and to figure out a strategy going forward," said Randy Johnson a vice president at the Chamber. Johnson said that whether decisions are made about launching an ad drive will "depend on the depths of concerns that we see at the meeting,"
Another person said of the meeting: "We're not blowing anything up yet, but we're making sure that we have the troops ready if we do have to oppose one or more bills and key provisions. At this stage, we still want to salvage health care reform, just not at any cost."
Given that it is Friday afternoon and the first sunny day in awhile in Washington, the level of attendance at the meeting will signal just how anxious the business community is about the health care debate, said Jade West, senior vice president of government relations at the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors.
Readers stay tuned.
My National Journal.com colleague Theresa Poulson shot video of my interviews with Karen Ignagni, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, Dan Danner, head of the National Federation of Independent Business and Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
These short videos give viewers a little more of the personal side of Ignagni, Danner, and Pollack than I was able to provide in my story in this week's issue which looked at the battle lines that might be drawn on the coming health care debate in Congress.
In this week's National Journal: (subscription)
Not wanting the Obama administration to have the last word on its new campaign, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce penned a response -- by Senior Vice President Tom Collamore -- to Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden's economic advisor. Earlier today on C-SPAN Berstein said the chamber was "missing the point" in launching its campaign to trumpet the merits of free markets. (Click here to see that post)
"I believe that it is Mr. Bernstein who is both missing the point and forgetting (perhaps willfully) recent history," writes Collamore.
Jared Bernstein, economic policy adviser to Vice President Biden, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is "missing the point" with its new $100 million "Campaign for Free Enterprise" announced yesterday. (see our blog postings yesterday here and here).
The campaign is aimed as a counter-offensive to the Obama administration's increasing involvement in the private sector.
Bernstein made his comments on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" this morning, when he was asked to comment on the chamber's new campaign. Jared said President Obama's involvement is aimed at addressing deep problems with the economy and to ignore them "because of ideology would have been a tremendous mistake."
See clip provided to us by C-SPAN below:
Ready to fight fire with fire, the SEIU countered the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 'Campaign for Free Enterprise' (see earlier blog post today), with an ad attacking the business heavyweight for an anti-working families record. This is the latest exchange in the multi-million dollar battle over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), labor legislation that would make it easier to form a union.
The message of the ad: the Chamber's opposition to EFCA is consistent with their anti-worker record. Entitled "Bad Company" (view here), the ad states the Chamber has lobbied to keep kids from getting health care, opposed increasing the minimum wage and fought against family leave. As part of a roughly six figure buy, the SEIU will run the ad online in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia and North Dakota.
"We are at a time of unprecedented income inequality," said Christy Setzer, SEIU spokesperson. "[The Chamber of Commerce] is an organization that's gone out of their way to support the interest of a narrow band of wealthy corporations."
In a press release, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer called the Chamber's efforts, "a deep-pocketed misinformation campaign."
UPDATE @ 12:20 PM. The Politico says this campaign has been budgeted at $100 million.
With sweeping health care and energy and labor initiatives being taken up on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has apparently decided it has little to gain by engaging with congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration and has decided instead to launch a broad-brush counter-offensive that Chamber President Tom Donohue calls "one of the most important and necessary initiatives in our 100 year-history."
The Chamber has yet to offer many specifics about its new Campaign for Free Enterprise, announced at a meeting of its board in Washington today, but says it will spend "tens of millions of dollars" on "a sustained-multi-year effort," including "highly visible" television and print advertising, mobilization of state and local affiliates and small business members.
"Everyone we have talked to thinks this is really important...that it must be done...that only the Chamber can do it right and effectively...that in an important way it brings us back to the bedrock cornerstone of this institution...to be the voice of free enterprise here and around the world," Donohue told his board.
The move, which a Chamber official said has been in the works for "months," comes at a pivotal moment: the Obama Administration and Democrats have benefited from the engagement of some business interests in advancing its global warming and health care initiatives, while other business groups are debating whether to trade engagement for outright opposition. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have been stepping up pressure on business groups to become more outspoken in their opposition.
The Chamber has also invited business leaders to come to their offices on Friday to talk about a coordinated business strategy for the health care reform legislation on Capitol Hill.
At their board meeting today, the Chamber elected Robert S. Milligan, chairman of small animal and meat protein processing company, M.I. Industries, as its new chairman.
(Photo of Tom Donohue by Liz Lynch)
My colleague Andrew Noyes had the scoop Thursday evening in TechDailyDose:
"On Friday, the National Association of Broadcasters' president and chief executive officer will say goodbye to the trade group he has led for the past four years and on Monday will report for work at communications firm Crosby-Volmer. David Rehr announced his departure last month and will join the advisory council for the PR shop whose clients include NAB and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he was previously CEO.
The American Council of Life Insurers could be getting a new leader later this year, depending on whether Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., decides to run for reelection in 2010. The ACLI has quietly launched a search for a possible replacement for its current president and CEO, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, who is seriously considering running for the Senate if Coburn chooses not to seek a second term, according to life insurance industry sources.
Keating, a Republican who served two terms as governor from 1995 to 2003, has a contract with the ACLI that runs to January 2011. He has told leading life insurance executives that he is waiting for Coburn's decision. Coburn has confided to close associates on K Street that he is uncertain about running for reelection; he is expected to make a decision within the next few weeks.
ACLI spokesman Jack Dolan said "the search process has always begun very early" prior to the end of a CEO's contract with the trade group, and noted that Keating's contract has been extended twice. Dolan added that "Gov. Keating has been entirely transparent with the ACLI leadership. In that context, he informed them that if Sen. Coburn decides not to seek reelection he would take a hard look at running." The ACLI represents 340 life insurance companies.
Keating had a high profile in last year's presidential contest as a co-chair for John McCain's campaign. The ACLI leader pitched in with fundraising and surrogate work for McCain and also generated controversy with public comments during the waning days of the campaign. In a radio interview, Keating said that Barack Obama was trying to cover up his "extreme record" and he urged the Democratic candidate to acknowledge that he "was a guy of the street."
Update @ 3:16 PM. Here is NAB's press release.
David Rehr, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, is stepping down after three years on the job, a source confirmed. Other news outlets are also reporting on his departure. NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton declined to comment.
Rehr joined the NAB in December 2005 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he had been CEO.
He is departing as the industry faces a number of critical and thorny public policy issues, including the digital television transition and a battle with the music industry over royalty fees.
We'll update this story as we have more information.
(Photo by Liz Lynch)
In a rare sight on Capitol Hill for any industry, health insurers practically begged senators Tuesday to regulate their livelihood rather than subject them to the fierce, and potentially lethal, competition that would ensue if lawmakers unleash a government-run public insurance option on them.
"We accept the premise that the system is not working today and needs to be reformed and, in fact, we need very clear, specific government regulation," Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans said.
AHIP also said insurers would stop discriminating based on gender, which typically leaves women paying more than men.
AHIP has suggested insurers are willing to drop conditions for insurance coverage and variations in premium costs depending on how sick a person is.
Ignagni spoke at a roundtable discussion with the Senate Finance Committee and other stakeholders. She elaborated after the event that she envisions the government setting a minimum health benefit package and enforcing the limits through penalties she said AHIP would help design. She admits the request is unusual.
"It's radical for an industry working in a market to say 'Renovate the rules. Here's the road map,'" Ignagni said.
A handful of major high-tech companies wrote to House Transportation Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn. and ranking member John Mica, R-Fla. on Wednesday to voice their opposition to a proposed ban on the usage of wireless telecommunications on U.S. commercial flights, reports TechDailyDose.
The Consumer Electronics Association, CTIA-The Wireless Association, the Satellite Industry Association, Technology Association of America, and the Telecommunications Industry Association joined passenger rights and business groups that recently complained about a legislative rush to prohibit the activity as part of a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill without meaningful public input. Rather than eliminating the option of using devices on airplanes, CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter called for a study to determine whether there is consumer demand.
To read more, click here.
From this week's National Journal and Congress Daily: (subscription)
The American Society of Association Executives is worried the public thinks that all trade associations do is lobby, so it has launched a campaign to let everyone know "we do more than [that]," said John Graham, CEO of ASAE.
The campaign, called "The Power of A," has been budgeted to cost in the "high 6 figures" and will be aimed at the Obama administration, lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff, Graham said. The effort was designed by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and will run online and on television through the end of May.
"Yes we lobby, but we also do education programs, we provide professional development for our members, and we set standards," said Graham. "We felt that word wasn't getting out."
Graham also said associations that lobby felt they were getting unfairly tarred by negative attention since the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal broke three years ago.
"Associations bring a level of expertise that can't be found elsewhere," argued Graham.
Graham said his group has also been frustrated by the Obama administration's new communications restrictions on lobbyists with regard to stimulus funding. Lobbyists can only communicate with executive branch officials in written form on specific projects.
"It's patently unfair and perhaps unconstitutional," he said.
He said many in the association world are talking about filing a class action suit if they don't feel their concerns are addressed by the White House.
--Bara Vaida
The Entertainment Software Association's head of government relations, Jennifer Manner, is out the door after just a month. ESA announced on Feb. 18, 2009, that Manner would be the group's new senior vice president for government affairs and would head the association's federal and state government relations team.
Manner, a long-time Democrat, didn't appear to have extensive Capitol Hill or administration experience. Her background included stints as a vice president of regulatory affairs at Skyterra Communications, chair of the Satellite Industry Association, and senior counsel to former FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy. She has also worked for Worldcom, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, and taught as an adjust professor of law. ESA is not advertising any new job openings on its Web site.
An association spokesman confirmed that Manner had departed but gave no further information.
-- Winter Casey
The corporations, unions and trade associations that represented the top 20 PAC contributors to federal candidates from both major parties last year poured a combined $22 million into lobbying efforts from January through March -- an increase of nearly 20 percent over the same period in 2008.
High-stakes legislation intended to calm the roiling American economy and a proposed change to labor laws prompted the nation's most generous political contributors to redouble efforts to lobby the lawmakers whose elections they helped to finance, a CongressDaily analysis of first-quarter lobbying disclosure filings shows. (To see chart, click here to access story on NJ.com)
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the list of top 20 PAC donors to House and Senate candidates in 2007 and 2008 includes the political arms of the National Association of Realtors, technology giant Honeywell International, the Service Employees International Union, and the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
The Realtors, whose PAC was the biggest donor to federal candidates in the last cycle, spent a whopping $5.7 million in its lobbying efforts over the first three months of 2009.
That figure, an 82 percent increase over the amount spent over same period last year, tops the $4 million that the Realtors' PAC shelled out to candidates in 2007 and 2008.
Vice President Joe Biden promised movie and television executives Tuesday night that the administration will "find the right person for intellectual property czar," a still vacant White House position created by Congress last year, TechDailyDose's Andrew Noyes reports.
During a dinner that capped off the Motion Picture Association of America's Business of Show Business symposium, he told the crowd that President Obama's team understands the film industry needs more resources dedicated to FBI enforcement of anti-piracy laws and more resources for prosecution, according to a pool report. He also blasted the Chinese government's IP regime that he argued "remains largely ineffective." China routinely tops the U.S. Trade Representative's annual "Special 301" report showing countries that are doing little to deal with IP theft. The latest rankings are due out later this month.
For more on Noyes' coverage of the MPAA conference, go to TechDailyDose.
Highlights from this week's National Journal: (subscription)
When movie-studio executives meet in Washington next week, their message to the Obama administration and Congress will be straightforward: Hollywood contributes heavily to the U.S. economy, and policies friendly to movie and television production and distribution can help the country rebound, writes Congress Daily's Andrew Noyes.
Unlike executives from other industries, members of the Motion Picture Association of America are not seeking handouts, the trade group's top lobbyist told CongressDaily. "We're coming to D.C. to highlight the positive impact of our industry and show that we're part of the solution," Michael O'Leary said. At the MPAA's Business of Show Business symposium Tuesday, speakers will underscore the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in wages they produce across the nation, much if it from off-camera work from local crews and catering to costumes and special effects.
To read more, go here for the story in CongressDailyPM (subscription)
The Washington Post last week reported several sightings of actor Harrison Ford and his wife Calista Flockhart and son Liam at local restaurants and the National Zoo.
In each story about Ford, the paper said it was unable to find out why the actor was in town. They speculated that perhaps it was for work he was doing with Conservation International, which is based in the DC area. Ford is on the group's board.
Well we know at least one official event Ford attended. He had an unscheduled lunch with members of the private pilots group the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The organization is launching a media campaign next week that will feature Ford, who himself is a private pilot and a member of the AOPA. The campaign is part of an effort to weigh in on legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.
A source said that Ford and his family were in town "on vacation" and for no other reason, but made the time to dine with AOPA officials. No word yet on whether Ford will come to DC for the official launch of AOPA's campaign next week.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
--Bara Vaida
The Progress and Freedom Foundation is postponing its popular annual policy summit, which was to be held this August at Robert Redford's swanky Sundance Resort in Utah. PFF President Ken Ferree cited the nation's ongoing economic woes as the rationale for pulling the plug on the popular outside the Beltway event.
Read more of the story on TechDailyDose.
TechNet CEO Lezlee Westine is leaving the high-tech group to head up the Personal Care Products Council, according to a number of industry sources.
Before joining TechNet in 2005, Westine was director of the White House Office of Public Liaison under President George W. Bush. She will be replacing Pamela Bailey, who left the Council to lead the Grocery Manufacturers Association last year. The Personal Care Products Council position is one the top paying jobs in Washington. Bailey received total compensation of $1.5 million, according to National Journal's 2008 salary survey.
Jim Hawley, general counsel at TechNet will be acting CEO of the organization until a replacement is found. Though there has been speculation that Westine's departure may result in the group merging with other high tech associations, a person familiar with the organization said the executive board isn't interested in a merger and will be looking for a new leader.
--Bara Vaida
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has expanded its government affairs and media team.
Marc Schloss has joined the association as director of federal government affairs. Previously Schloss was a legislative aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and worked for the Center for American Progress. He has also been a deputy director at the Democratic National Committee and the finance chief operating officer for Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh's All America political action committee. Schloss also managed a PAC for lobbying firm Van Scoyoc Associates.
Also joining the group is Stephen Schatz, as director of media relations. Schatz was a deputy press secretary for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and before that worked for Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind.
-- Winter Casey
UPDATE (March 31 4:17 pm) In response to the letter, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said:
"The
goal is full transparency. That's entirely consistent with the First
Amendment. Lobbyists can communicate about specific projects in writing and
about policy issues orally. That fully respects freedom of speech - while at
the same time ending closed-door lobbyist dealmaking in favor of sunlight. We
welcome everyone's comments and will consider them."
President Obama's March 20 directive limiting lobbyists' communication with executive branch officials "won't get rid of undue influence" and will result in less disclosure and transparancy, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in a Tuesday press briefing.
Sloan has joined with Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union and Dave Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists, in writing a letter requesting the administration rescind a portion of the directive aimed at reducing lobbyists' influence on how the $787 billion stimulus package is spent.
"CREW whole-heartedly supports Obama's goals, but demonizing lobbyists isn't the solution," said Sloan, whose group has been one of the loudest voices against the influence of "special interests" in Washington.
Continue reading Critics Challenge White House Lobbyist Rules.
Large numbers of people are expected to descend upon Capitol Hill this week to push for billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens' energy plan. But don't worry about overcrowding on the Metro.
Supporters will stage a "virtual march" Wednesday through Friday, contacting lawmakers by phone, fax and e-mail in support of legislation that coincides with Pickens' plan to less U.S. dependency on foreign oil. Pickens claimed about 1.5 million members of his "New Energy Army" this week, plus more affiliated with the two-dozen-plus organizations and companies that have endorsed the march and encouraged their employeers and members to participate.
Not surprisingly, many of those groups have an explicit stake in energy, such as American Electric Power, insulation company Owens Corning, the American Wind Energy Association and the National Propane Gas Association. Others have more oblique connections, such as the National Conference of Black Mayors and the American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance.
Pickens launched his plan, which focuses on natural gas, solar and wind energy, last July. The founder and chairman of BP Capital Management has invested $60 million of his own money, and major energy companies, notably AEP and Owens Corning, have pledged support as well. Spokespeople for both companies would not disclose the amount they've contributed.
The march is planned to coincide with the crucial early days of Obama's presidency, said Jay Rosser, a spokesman for Pickens. "The most critical period is the first 100 days of the new administration," he said. "If things don't get done in the first 100 days, they just don't get done or are exponentially harder to achieve."
The oilman himself will also be on Capitol Hill lobbying his plan. Rosser said Pickens will be making media appearances, testifying at congressional hearings and meeting with lawmakers one-on-one.
-- Amy Harder
From this week's National Journal: (subscription)
In an update to Peter Stone's story from this past Tuesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association has officially laid off 20 of their staff. The group also will require remaining employees to take one week of unpaid vacation and will suspend matching contributions for employees' 401K plans.
Congress Daily's Bill Swindell has the details this morning. (Subscription)
Buzz around town is building as Business Forward readies its launch with the goal of promoting President Obama's economic competitiveness agenda.
The organization is trying to woo big high-tech firms like Cisco Systems, Google, IBM, and Microsoft to join as members, a source involved in the effort said Tuesday. "There are very few platforms for the administration and Congress to engage the business community," he said. So far, founding member companies of the group include AT&T, Pfizer and Time Warner, a source said.
Rather than lobbying, Business Forward's initial aim will be hosting events around the country to focus on maximizing funds in the $787 billion economic stimulus package. It will be led by political operative Jim Doyle; former Viacom lobbyist David Sutphen, whose sister is Obama's deputy chief of staff; former Obama media consultant Erik Smith; former Obama campaign staffer Julie Andreeff Jensen; and Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America.
Business Forward's founding members will pay up to $75,000 per year for a membership, while smaller firms will pay $1,500 in annual dues. One organizer rejected the notion that the group is the Democrats' answer to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. It won't compete with progressive think tanks like the Center for American Progress or MoveOn.org, the organizer said.
"You know what you get with all the existing organizations around town," the organizer said. "They all have a role to play. This isn't an 'either-or' endeavor. It's an 'and.' "
-- Andrew Noyes, with reporting by Bara Vaida
Yet another round of pink slips hit the Mortgage Bankers Association on Monday.
According to two lobbyists close to the group, the MBA announced about 20 layoffs--including some vice presidents-- in areas such as marketing, education, membership and government affairs. The latest cost cutting move is the third in the last year by the group which has been hit hard by the subprime mortgage debacle. We reported back in December on some of the layoffs last year.
The MBA's financial woes are partly due to the loss of several big members such as Countrywide and Wachovia-- which have been forced to merge due to the recession-- and a number of smaller member companies, which have gone bankrupt.
--Peter Stone
UPDATE @ 4:15 PM: Mortgage Bankers put out a statement.
"The real estate finance industry and MBA member firms have been facing tough economic challenges. Over the course of the past year, MBA has aggressively implemented rigorous cost cutting measures, from streamlining program expenses to eliminating lower priority product offerings. The goal has been, and continues to be, ensuring that MBA is properly structured to deliver value to our member firms. We deeply regret the need for today's reduction in force and the resulting departure of so many of our talented and dedicated employees."
Congress Daily breaks the news that Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. won't support the Employee Free Choice Act, otherwise known as "card-check" legislation. (subscription)
Specter was a potential swing vote for the measure, so his opposition is a blow to organized labor which has spent millions on garnering support in Congress for the measure which would make it easier for employees to form a union.
It is a win for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which has also spent millions to oppose the bill.
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will continue to use every tool at its disposal to fight this legislation until it is taken off the table altogether," said Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the chamber.
The Obama administration has reversed yet another Bush-era doctrine, this one governing the judicial nominee vetting process.
Back in 2001, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales informed the American Bar Association that it would no longer be asked to vet federal judiciary candidates before a nomination, ending a 50-year practice of bringing the association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary in to conduct a peer review prior to official nomination.
After Gonzales' announcement, the committee still reviewed nominees and assigned them ratings of "well-qualified," "qualified," or "not qualified." But they started the process after nominations were officially announced. Now the committee will get the candidates' names earlier.
"The Standing Committee makes a unique contribution to the process by conducting an extensive peer review of each potential nominee's integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament," ABA President Thomas Wells said in a statement released today.
Many GOPers objected to the ABA's role after unfavorable ratings for Republican Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas two decades ago.
But the Obama administration and the ABA got their new relationship off to an early start: White House Counsel Greg Craig met with Wells at the association's DC offices just a few days after the inauguration.
--Brian Friel
The leadership board of the National Association of Home Builders has decided to keep Jerry Howard on as president and CEO.
Yesterday, there were news reports that Howard's job may be in jeopardy over a long-bubbling internal association dispute over the handling of legislative tax issues.
"Leadership from both the NAHB and the NAHB's [High Production Home Builders Council] met yesterday for a candid discussion about issues of concern to the HPHBC," the group said in a statement. "At our meeting, we had constructive dialogue about the framework needed for working cooperatively on issues critical to the industry. We face many issues in common and now more than ever, it is important for all homebuilders to be united. In addition Jerry Howard continues as president and CEO."
--Bara Vaida
Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, is facing an internal association battle regarding the group's position over a tax break which could cost Howard his job, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Executives from the group's largest members are meeting in Chicago today with the NAHB's leadership to discuss potentially ousting Howard, the story says.
An association official wasn't immediately available to comment to National Journal.
-- Bara Vaida
UPDATE @ 11:06 AM. A spokeswoman said she has no comment "on this issue."
A. Barry Rand was named as the new CEO of AARP, the nation's largest lobbying group for senior citizens. Rand will replace Bill Novelli on April 6. Novelli has been CEO of AARP since 2001.
Rand is currently chairman of the Board of Trustees of Howard University. Prior to Howard, he was executive vice president for worldwide operations at Xerox, where, according to AARP, Xerox became "the most diverse company in the Fortune 500." Rand left Xerox in 1999 to become chairman and CEO of Avis. Here's Howard University's bio of Rand.
AARP began looking for a new leader more than year ago, according to a January 8, 2008 National Journal item. See story here. Heidrick & Struggles conducted the search for Rand, according to news reports.
-- Bara Vaida
Former Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz. and president of high-tech trade association COMPTEL announced Wednesday has resigned and will join lobbying firm Policy Impact Communications, Congress Daily's Andrew Noyes reports in Tech Daily Dose.
COMPTEL CEO Jerry James will continue to provide leadership over the group's public policy initiatives and will assume the day-to-day responsibilities.
Washington's largest technology trade group will soon launch a stakeholder lobbying blitz that emphasizes the importance of innovation in pulling the United States out of recession, Congress Daily reports.
Technology Association of America CEO Chris Hansen said today the effort is aimed at broader economic recovery and national prosperity. "Innovation Now" agenda items will include energy efficiency, health care, national security, trade and other topics. The campaign will involve industry groups and associations in and outside the high-tech arena. It comes on the heels of efforts by Hansen's sector to secure about $100 billion worth of IT-related economic stimulus funds in the package President Obama signed two weeks ago.
Obama "understands technology and understands how technology needs to pull us out of the economic situation we're in," Hansen said. He said TechAmerica's would be unveiled "very soon."
The National Association of Realtors has scored a major victory in the FY09 omnibus appropriations bill by securing a provision that would permanently prohibit banks from entering into real estate activities, Congress Daily's Bill Swindell reports. The language is a significant accomplishment for the group in its eight-year battle to keep the banks out of their business. Click here to read further. (Subscription required)
Also in this week's National Journal:
No fun. D.C. staff at the National Restaurant Association will have to reapply for jobs under a restructuring announced on February 27. The good news: The total number of positions remains the same. The bad news: Not all employees will be qualified for the new posts. "There is optimism that a number of current staff will stay on," spokeswoman Sue Hensley said.
Click here for more from our Inside Washington section (subscription required).
The economic downturn continues to bite industry associations.
The National Association of Manufacturers, which laid off staff at the end of 2008, has been forced to cancel its annual public affairs conference scheduled for April 19-21 at the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans.
"Due to the current economic climate, a large number of our members are re-evaluating their budgets and many have implemented travel freezes," according to a NAM email. "In light of this unfortunate situation, we are unable to hold the annual public affairs conference as scheduled."
NAM is hopeful that its members will be able to attend next year's conference, planned for March 21-23, 2010 in Amelia Island, Fla.
NAM isn't alone. PhHRMA was also forced to cancel a planned state government affairs meeting this year.
"Significant budget cuts have made the meeting too difficult for us to conduct without causing problems in other areas of our budget," according to a PhRMA email circulating yesterday.
--Bara Vaida
Two of D.C.'s biggest entertainment trade associations, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, are facing budget and staff cuts, according to news sources.
The RIAA recently let go 20 to 25 people, or about 20 percent of its staff. It also declined to fill positions that have been vacated, according to CNET News. In all, the RIAA has reduced staff by 31 people -- or just under 30 percent -- to about 75 people. The association's current CEO, Mitch Bainwol, will remain at the helm.
A spokesman noted that the job cuts follow the decline in the recording industry's revenue, as a result of piracy, the economy and a steep decline in CD sales. He noted that in 1999, the industry's revenue was $14.5 billion. By 2008, revenue had fallen to $8.5 billion.
The MPAA is also facing cuts. The association's six-member board clipped the group's budget by $20 million this year and laid off about 20 percent of its staff and consultants in Los Angeles and Washington, the Hollywood Reporter writes. The story also says that the MPAA extended CEO Dan Glickman's contract through the summer of 2010, rather than extending it for multiple years. Glickman's current contract expires this June.
In National Journal's 2008 biannual salary survey, which is based on 2005 and 2006 tax information, we reported that MPAA's annual revenue was $82.1 million and the RIAA's revenue was $46.8 million.
--Bara Vaida
Congress Daily's Andrew Noyes talks to Michael Gallagher, the head of the videogame industry's main trade association, the Entertainment Software Association, in Congress Daily's "Issue of the Week" today. Among the issues the group is gearing up to push for are government policies that encourage affordable, accessible, and faster high-speed Internet service.
"We're very pleased with the president's strong embracing of broadband deployment as a high value goal for our country," Gallagher, former assistant secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush, tells Noyes.
