National Restaurant Association taps new leader

With help from Daniel Lippman  

NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION HIRES NEW CEO: The National Restaurant Association has hired Michelle Korsmo to be its next president and chief executive, as well as chief executive of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Korsmo has served as the president and CEO of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America since 2018, and before that she led the American Land Title Association. She also was an executive at the Koch group Americans for Prosperity Foundation and served in the George W. Bush administration’s Labor Department.

— Korsmo will succeed interim CEO Marvin Irby, who took over when the trade group’s previous leader, Tom Bené, stepped down last summer. She’ll join the association, which spent nearly $3 million on lobbying at the federal level last year, as the hard-hit industry fights for more targeted aid to survive the pandemic, and as the Biden administration pursues labor policies and corporate tax hikes part of the industry has sought to stave off.

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GYMS HUDDLE VIRTUALLY WITH HILL LEADERS: A top trade group representing the fitness industry is meeting virtually with leaders on the Hill this week as gyms and fitness studios look to get a yearslong lobbying campaign for federal pandemic aid across the finish line in the next few weeks. IHRSA, The Global Health & Fitness Association, has gotten face time with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, and plans to speak with Senate Small Business Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about the industry’s requests to include targeted funding for fitness studios in a an omnibus spending bill that lawmakers are aiming to pass in March.

— “I think this is our last real shot at this opportunity,” Liz Clark, IHRSA’s chief executive, said in an interview. She noted that, according to the group’s data, up to a quarter of gyms have shuttered since the pandemic, with numbers even higher in states that had lengthier, stricter public health restrictions and among the “smallest of the small” independent studios. Though Clark told PI she’s confident that relief for gyms will make it into the package at the behest of Cardin and his GOP counterpart, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), it will still require 10 GOP votes in the Senate. IHRSA held a virtual fly-in focused on GOP senators late last year, and the industry is seeking to show lawmakers the urgency of relief for the industry.

— Even with states and localities beginning to lift Covid restrictions that have dampened gym attendance for the last two years, “our members are negotiating with landlords and owe back rent,” Clark said. “They are trying to recruit staff back that have left — and by the way, staff that have had to be on the front lines of implementing masks and vaccine mandates, which they didn’t sign up to do.”

— Previous rounds of small-business aid, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, weren’t structured in a way that gyms were able to benefit from. In the meantime, gym owners, some of whom Clark said have mortgaged their homes and drained their savings to open a gym, “are making personal, future financial decisions based on this legislation,” Clark said of ongoing spending negotiations. “And I have to hope that Congress does the right thing for these small businesses.”

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send tips: [email protected]. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

DEPT. OF WORKAROUNDS: “In the weeks following last year’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, Amazon suspended all campaign donations to the 147 Republicans who objected to certifying the election that day, calling their behavior ‘unacceptable.’ Six months later, Amazon lobbyists began doling out thousands of dollars in personal donations to those very lawmakers” — and Amazon lobbyists “were hardly alone in sidestepping company bans” on giving to that group of Republicans, POLITICO’s Emily Birnbaum, Megan Wilson and Hailey Fuchs report.

— “Throughout 2021, in-house government affairs staffers for at least 13 companies gave personal donations to Republicans who objected to the presidential election results, according to a POLITICO review of campaign finance filings from the Federal Election Commission. That includes lobbyists for Microsoft, Google, Meta, Allstate, Toyota, Nike and Dow Chemical Company. The big tech companies were the largest group, highlighting Silicon Valley’s balancing act as it faces increasing scrutiny from both sides of the aisle.”

— “The under-the-radar donations meant that even as the companies stuck to their Jan. 6 pledges, their lobbyists ingratiated themselves with the GOP lawmakers, some of whom are expected to take leadership roles in the House if Republicans take back control in the midterm elections. POLITICO identified more than $28,000 in donations from lobbyists to lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election.”

— “Most of the 13 companies either did not offer a comment on their employees’ donations or declined to comment. Those who did emphasized that the money was given in the employee’s capacity as an individual, using their own money.” Still, “the donations throughout much of 2021 came at a precarious time for businesses in Washington, when access to Congress was particularly important.”

INDUSTRY COALITION PRESSES BIDEN FOR COVID RELIEF: While gym owners are hitting up the Hill this week, a coalition of 17 other, more disparate industry trade groups fighting for inclusion if pandemic aid ends up being tucked in to an omnibus spending bill urged President Joe Biden not to “pick winners and losers.” Instead, the coalition wants lawmakers to offer relief to a broader swath of hard-hit businesses that are also struggling to recover from the pandemic.

— “As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on well beyond anyone’s expectations, recovery for these mostly small businesses is proceeding substantially slower than expected,” the Economic Bridge Coalition, whose members represent industries ranging from travel advisers and rentals to tailors, photographers, amusement parks, horses and outdoor recreation, wrote in a letter to Biden. “Funds from earlier programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans are long gone, yet Covid-19-related challenges are not over, and many of these businesses face the additional burden of operating under increased debt load with the simple goal of trying to keep their businesses open and employees on payroll.”

— The coalition is asking policymakers to expand eligibility for two other targeted grant programs, one for restaurants and bars and another for live entertainment venues and theaters, or create a new grant program modeled after those “which would provide relief for otherwise left-behind businesses.”

SIGNED, SEALED, (HAND) DELIVERED: Postal workers are also hitting the Hill this week to push a long-stalled package of postal reforms that passed the House last weekover the finish line in the Senate and send the bill to Biden’s desk. The United Postmasters and Managers of America are set to meet with Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) today. Daines and Cramer are co-sponsors of a Senate companion to the House legislation that passed easily and aims to address yearslong financial insolvency at the Postal Service.

— The bill has bipartisan support in the chamber, including at least 10 GOP senators, which will allow the bill to bypass the filibuster if all Democrats vote in favor. Schumer said last week that the Senate would take up and pass the bill in the coming weeks.

NRA VETS STEP IN FOR BACKUP IN CONTENTIOUS GOP PRIMARIES: “Missouri Senate candidate Vicky Hartzler is getting more backup — this time from a newly launched super PAC being steered by a prominent Republican strategist,” our Alex Isenstadt reports. “Hartzler has received the endorsement of Secure Our Freedom Action Fund. The super PAC is overseen by Chris Cox, who directed the National Rifle Association’s political operations for nearly two decades until his departure in 2019.”

— “Senior Republicans have been searching for a way to prevent [former Gov. Eric] Greitens, who left office in disgrace following allegations he sexually assaulted his hairdresser, from winning” a crowded GOP primary.

— The PAC, which is also run by another former NRA lobbyist, David Lehman, “is also endorsing Alabama Republican Katie Britt, who is also running for Senate. Britt, a former chief of staff for retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, is locked in a competitive primary for the open seat. Rep. Mo Brooks has former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, but he has been outraised more than 2-to-1 by Britt, while self-funding businessowner Mike Durant has also put significant resources into the race.”

— Mercury has added Robert Jones as a managing director. He was most recently senior vice president of government relations and public affairs at Pfizer.

— Ballard Partners is opening an office in Istanbul, Turkey, to be led by former Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matt Bryza as managing partner and former Rep. Robert Wexler as special adviser.

— Tom Firestone has joined Stroock’s D.C. office as co-chair of its White Collar & Internal Investigations practice group and partner in the National Security, CFIUS, and Compliance and Litigation groups. He previously was co-chair of the North America government enforcement practice at Baker McKenzie and is a DOJ alum.

— Pat Pelletier is now a government and regulatory affairs executive at IBM, per Playbook. He previously was chief of staff for former Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.), and is a John Kline alum.

— Sylvester Giustino has been promoted from senior director to vice president of federal and state government affairs for the Commercial Vehicle Training Association. Prior to CVTA, he was deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison at the Labor Department under Secretary Eugene Scalia.

— The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions has hired Meghan Burris as vice president of communications and media relations. She was most recently a principal at MKB Strategies and is a Trump administration alum.

— Nick Magallanes is joining Iovance Biotherapeutics as head of U.S. external affairs, leading the D.C. office. He previously was vice president of federal affairs at PhRMA.

— Tim Leshan is the new external relations and advocacy officer at the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, joined by Beeta Rasouli as director of advocacy, per Morning Pulse. Leshan previously worked as a vice provost for Northeastern University and a policy, planning and analysis chief for the National Human Genome Research Institute. Rasouli worked for Lewis-Burke Associates after leaving Capitol Hill.

— Maura Pally is joining Blackstone as executive director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, Morning Money reports. Pally was most recently executive vice president of the Clinton Foundation, and worked previously at Bloomberg Philanthropies and the State Department.

— Justin Slaughter is joining Paradigm as policy director, per Morning Money. Slaughter worked most recently as director of the SEC’s Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and as senior adviser to former SEC acting chair Allison Lee.

Team Zinke (Zinke For Congress, SEAL PAC Supporting Electing American Leaders PAC)

None.

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: International Information System Security Certification Consortium
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Reach Redlands LLC
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: William & Mary Foundation
Blank Rome Government Relations: Embraer Aircraft Holding, Inc.
Blank Rome Government Relations: Spacex
Broydrick & Associates: County Of Mckinley
Capitol Counsel LLC: Blandford Biotech
Corinna Gilfillan: Uncac Coalition
Holland & Knight LLP: Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation
Jones Walker, LLP: The City Of St. Louis Port Authority
Liebman & Associates, Inc.: Beta Technologies, Inc.
Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: Zing Health Holdings, Inc.
Rasky Partners, Inc.: The National Council On Problem Gambling
The Picard Group, LLC: Focus Foods
Thompson Advisory Group: San Francisco Research Institute
Van Scoyoc Associates: American Association For The Treatment Of Opioid Dependence
Whitmer & Worrall, LLC: Improving Market Access Coalition (Imac)

Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Pike Associates, LLC Obo Woods Hole Martha’S Vineyard Nantucket Steamship Auth.
The Wessel Group Incorporated: American Clean Power Association

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