Bottom Line: American Airlines lobbies up ahead of credit card swipe fee hearing
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Credit cards
American Airlines hired Williams and Jensen to lobby on a range of issues impacting the airline industry, including taxes, fees and credit card interchange fees.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has asked American Airlines, United Airlines, Visa and Mastercard executives to testify in April. He alleged the companies have “aggressively opposed” his bill that would require credit card issuers to offer more payment network options “in order to protect the billions of dollars in windfall profits their companies collect through their co-branded credit cards.” Opponents of the bill have argued the bill would enrich retailers rather than lower prices for consumers and threaten their credit card points rewards programs.
Karina Lynch, former counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, will work on the account. One member of that committee, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), signed on as a co-sponsor to Durbin’s bill last week.
Transportation
Former Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who moved from Congress to K Street last January after more than two decades on Capitol Hill, has registered as a lobbyist. He launched DeFazio and Associates Consulting soon after he left office, partnering with the lobbying firm Summit Strategies during his mandatory yearlong “cooling-off period.”
DeFazio, the former chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, registered to lobby for Portland’s transit operator TriMet, the American Trucking Association, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and the anti-Tesla group The Dawn Project.
Conservation
Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit group dedicated to wetland conservation, hired Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to lobby on issues related to water conservation, habitat creation and the use of federal programs to achieve these goals. Former Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) will work on the account.
Oil and gas
The American Petroleum Institute hired Greenberg Traurig to lobby on issues impacting oil and gas production. The lobbyist on the account is Robert Jones, former counsel to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Health
Amazon hired Tarplin, Downs & Young to lobby on a range of health issues including health savings accounts, Medicare Advantage, high-deductible health plans, Medicare Part D and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation direct contracting program. Jennifer Young, former assistant secretary for legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services, will work on the account.
Agriculture
Whole Foods Market hired Monument Advocacy to lobby on issues related to food, sustainability and the farm bill. One of the lobbyists on the account is Lilia McFarland Horder, who spent nearly 12 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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