Tag: lobbyists

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Politics

These lobbyists are speaking to subsequent NY governor

These lobbyists are talking to next NY governor

New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a press conference the day after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation on August 11, 2021 at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York.

Cindy Schultz | Reuters

Kathy Hochul won’t become New York’s governor for about two weeks, but some lobbyists have already had a leg in the race to influence her.

Hochul, who was elected Vice Governor of the state in 2014, has already dealt with several lobbyists from various industries this year.

She will replace Governor Andrew Cuomo after he announced on Tuesday that he would resign in two weeks after the attorney general presented a report saying he sexually molested 11 women. Cuomo, who continues to deny wrongdoing, was investigated for several months before quitting.

“I’m sure you have sought Kathy Hochul’s favor in the Albany lobbying world, starting with the cascade of allegations earlier this year,” a longtime Democratic insider with ties to the government told CNBC. “I bet that was when your phone went down because Albany lobbyists know when a major change is imminent.” This person declined to be called to speak freely.

On Wednesday, Hochul said that she had already been in contact with the heads of state of the legislature as well as the heads of companies and trade unions. She also vowed to clean up the toxic work environment that Cuomo was accused of overseeing.

Hochul, who will be the state’s first female governor, had heard from some of the state’s top funders prior to Cuomo’s resignation.

Some of the lobbyists who were in contact with her had ties to Cuomo’s late father, former Governor Mario Cuomo; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Governor David Paterson.

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Andrew Cuomo’s connections with lobbyists include Giorgio DeRosa, the father of Cuomo’s longtime associate Melissa DeRosa. DeRosa and his team temporarily deployed Hochul employees for a large number of customers.

A spokesman for DeRosa’s company Bolton-St. Johns said her team looks forward to working with Hochul and the next New York City Mayor, who is slated to be Democratic nominee Eric Adams.

Here are the lobbying shops that were in contact with Hochul this year.

Kasirer

A lobbying disclosure report shows that the Kasirer law firm, together with state lawmakers, spoke directly to Hochul between May and June. The effort went to Columbia Care Inc., a cannabis product pharmacy with locations in New York.

According to the report, the focus for Kasirer was on “building relationships with regard to cannabis legislation”. Cuomo signed a bill in March that would legalize recreational marijuana use in the Empire State. Hochul will now be responsible for the future implementation of the directive.

One of the lobbyists listed in the report who campaigned for Hochul is Suri Kasirer, the company’s founder and president. Kasirer was part of the senior staff of Governor Mario Cuomo. Crain’s has named Kasirer “New York City’s Most Successful Lobbyist”.

Kasirer’s website lists numerous corporate clients, including Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley; Real estate giants like RXR, Brookfield, Tishman and Brodsky, and media companies like Comcast and NBCUniversal, parent companies of CNBC.

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Sheridan Hohman & Associates

Sheridan Hohman & Associates, a lobbying shop run by Tim Sheridan and Katie Hohman, reached out to Hochul this summer.

Sheridan was the director of government affairs under Mario Cuomo. Between May and June, they campaigned on behalf of Hochul and other state officials for the New York Association of Training & Employment Professionals, a nonprofit that focuses on human resource development in the state.

According to the lobbying report, their efforts focused on “government funding” for a “human resource development initiative”.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Shenker Russo & Clark

Shenker Russo & Clark, an Albany company that represented the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, championed Hochul, according to a disclosure report.

Theresa Russo is the company’s CEO. Russo, co-managing director Doug Clark, and other office executives are featured in the lobbying report showing their recent collaboration with Hochul. Russo once worked for Giuliani and Paterson.

Russo and Clark emailed CNBC to say they have known Hochul since their time in Congress and look forward to working on behalf of their clients with the new government.

“She has always been a person of great integrity and intelligence – qualities that will serve her well at the beginning of this new chapter,” said Russo and Clark in a joint statement. “We have spoken to her as lieutenant governor on behalf of clients and have always appreciated her willingness to listen to all sides of a problem.”

Dickinson & Avella

Dickinson & Avella, another Albany store that has a number of corporate clients, also championed Hochul.

The lobbying took place between May and June for Silvercup Services, which shares the same address as Silvercup Studios, one of the largest film and television production studios in New York City. Projects filmed at Silvercup Studios include Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and the hit HBO series “Succession” and “The Sopranos”.

Michael Avella and Christina Dickinson, both partners in the firm, are featured in the lobbying report. It is said that they agreed directly with Hochul on a government bill on a film tax credit.

The company’s officials did not respond to requests for comments.

A Hochul representative did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.

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Business

Lobbyists urge updates to federal automobile security guidelines after Tesla crashes

Lobbyists urge updates to federal car safety rules after Tesla crashes

Two major US auto industry lobby groups are pushing for updates to federal vehicle safety regulations following major accidents involving Tesla vehicles.

During a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday, executives from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association said the U.S. needed better standards and protocols to sell automated driving systems like Tesla’s under the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving brand names to address.

Tesla has been critical of the development, testing, and marketing of these systems, including the failure to prevent drivers from misusing or overestimating the capabilities of the autopilot and FSD.

There are questions about whether autopilot or FSD were in any way to blame for the recent Tesla accidents that the National Transportation Safety Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating. To date, the NHTSA has initiated around 28 investigations into Tesla vehicle accidents, of which around 24 are active. NTSB has launched 8 such investigations.

Automated driving systems, also known as driver assistance systems, can control some functions of a vehicle. However, automakers continue to require drivers to remain alert and drive even when the systems are in use.

In general, driver assistance is based on a mixture of cameras and sensors. Some automakers use advanced maps along with sensors to restrict the use of their systems to specific streets.

Despite their commercial availability, the United States does not regulate precise federal regulations or performance standards for automated driving systems.

“The US is at risk of losing our competitive advantage because of a lack of clear national guidelines,” said Ann Wilson, senior vice president of government affairs for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, during the hearing on Tuesday. She later added, “NHTSA can and should do more.”

John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said a “more strategic and robust approach” is needed for the government’s New Car Assessment program. He also said any modernization of the government’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), which set requirements for the design, construction, performance and durability of vehicles, should also be analyzed in relation to highly automated and autonomous vehicles.

“We need a national strategy, a framework that accommodates a new kind of regulation,” he said.

The comments came Tuesday afternoon during a Senate Land Transport, Shipping, Freight and Ports subcommittee on how automotive innovations will affect the future of vehicle safety, mobility and technology in a global economy.

It came a day after three Democratic U.S. Senators on Monday introduced laws mandating performance standards for driver monitoring systems and requiring those systems to be installed in new vehicles.

Tesla is not a member of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation or the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association. The company did not respond to a comment.

A steering wheel light bar and cluster icons indicate the status of Super Cruise ™ and prompt the driver to return their attention to the road if the system detects that the driver’s attention has been turned away from the road for too long.

Source: General Motors

Driver monitoring

Prior to the hearing, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automotive suppliers and manufacturers who produce nearly 99% of new cars and light trucks sold in the US, published several safety principles related to driver monitoring in vehicles with driver assistance systems such as Tesla Autopilot.

Among other things, the guidelines call on car manufacturers to introduce camera-based driver monitoring systems for vehicles with automated driving or driver assistance systems. These are intended to recognize whether the drivers are attentive and ready to drive manually in situations in which the automated program is insufficient.

General Motors, Subaru, and BMW already have camera-based driver monitoring systems, and others like Ford Motor have announced similar plans. Tesla vehicles have cabin cameras, but according to the company’s operating instructions, they are not used for driver monitoring. With Tesla’s systems, the driver has to “check in” by touching the steering wheel.

“This issue that we are now debating – and I agree with you – is a consumer awareness and confidence issue. That is why we have set out these driver monitoring principles today,” Bozzella said during the hearing, without any company or specific company To mention system. “Driver monitoring is an important element in this.”

Tesla research

Last week consumer reports found that a 2020 Tesla Model Y “can easily get the car to drive even if no one is in the driver’s seat.”

The test included upgrading the Tesla steering wheel to bypass the vehicle’s safety features that otherwise might have disabled the autopilot. The test followed a fatal spring 2019 Model S crash in Texas in April that sparked two federal investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

After a preliminary investigation, a Harris County police officer named Mark Herman told television that his investigators were “sure” that no one was in the driver’s seat of the Tesla at the time of the crash.

Extensive investigations have not been completed, and authorities have not disclosed whether the autopilot or Tesla’s premium automatic driving system FSD was in use before or at the time of the collision. Tesla advises in its owner’s manual that the autopilot and FSD require active monitoring.

The remains of a Tesla vehicle can be seen in this still from a video captured via social media after the crash in The Woodlands, Texas on April 17, 2021. Video recorded on April 17, 2021.

Scott J. Engle | via Reuters

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said in a tweet earlier this month, “Data logs recovered so far show that autopilot was not activated and this car did not purchase an FSD. Also, the standard autopilot would require turning on lane lines that this road does not would have. “”

In a first quarter earnings call on Monday, Musk said journalists should be “ashamed” of their coverage of the crash. Tesla’s vice president of automotive technology, Lars Moravy, also shared additional details Tesla learned from helping with the local and state investigation to date.

Among other things, Moravy said that in the spring incident in Texas, “Autosteer couldn’t and couldn’t get into the road condition as it was designed.” He added that the car “only accelerated to 30 mph” before hitting a tree, and that a steering wheel deformity indicated to Tesla a “likelihood that someone was in the driver’s seat at the time of the accident”.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, unveils a new all-wheel drive version of the Model S on October 9, 2014 in Hawthorne, California.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

During Tuesday’s government hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Criticized Tesla and Musk for speaking about the crash while the federal investigation was ongoing.

“I was very disappointed that Tesla took to Twitter through its CEO to downplay the involvement of the company’s advanced driver assistance system before both the NTSB and NTHSA completed their ongoing investigations into the fatal accident,” he said.

The NTSB emailed CNBC, “Our investigation is ongoing and we are focused on the operation of the vehicle and the post-accident fire.”

The NHTSA and Spring, Texas police were not immediately available for comment.

Blumenthal said he agrees with some auto lobbyists that federal safety standards and new regulations are required.

He said, “Tesla’s crash shows that there are many unanswered questions about the technology that is supposed to be automated. Unfortunately, there are no current regulations that give the public much convenience that more automation is the answer without much improved consumer protection.”

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Politics

Saudi Arabia hires new crop of lobbyists forward of Biden administration

Saudi Arabia hires new crop of lobbyists ahead of Biden administration

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is on a lobbyist hiring frenzy as President-elect Joe Biden, who has signaled that he will take a tougher stance on the nation, prepares for office.

With the potential for a more tumultuous relationship with the US, Saudi Arabia has hired a few lobbyists who have ties to Republican congressional leaders.

These lobbyists may be more successful working with GOP lawmakers in the new Congress rather than Democrats or Biden’s government. Republicans made gains in the House of Representatives in the 2020 election and could have a slight edge in the Senate if they win one of the seats in two Georgia runoffs scheduled for early next month.

Biden told the Council on Foreign Relations during the Democratic primary last year that he would be reducing US support for Saudi Arabia on key issues.

“I would end US support for the disastrous Saudi-waged war in Yemen and order a reassessment of our relations with Saudi Arabia,” Biden said at the time. “It is time to restore balance, perspective and loyalty to our values ​​in our Middle Eastern relations. President Trump has given Saudi Arabia a dangerous blank check,” he added.

The kingdom is largely ruled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. NBC News reported in 2018 that he ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the Crown Prince has denied. The then president stood by Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s death. The two nations had signed an arms treaty worth nearly $ 110 billion a year earlier.

The government of Saudi Arabia spent more than $ 30 million on lobbying activities in 2018, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. So far, spending in 2020 has been $ 5 million.

A representative from the Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the youngest employees came from the Larson Shannahan Slifka Group, an Iowa-based public affairs business, which signed a lucrative deal with the Saudi embassy last year. The embassy, ​​also known as the LS2 group, agreed to pay $ 1.5 million for a year in 2019.

New records show that LS2 recently launched the Arena Strategy Group for actions that include “informing the public, government officials and the media about the importance of promoting and fostering strong ties between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” be lobbying report says.

The contract began on December 1, weeks after Biden was declared president-elect, and will include government work, the document says. The contract is valued at approximately $ 5,000 per month.

Arena’s government efforts are led by Mark Graul, a Republican political strategist who was Wisconsin State Director for President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign. He was also Chief of Staff to former Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., When Green was in Congress. Green later became head of the U.S. agency for international development under Trump and resigned earlier this year.

Graul did not return a request for comment.

The Saudi Arabian DC embassy recently suspended Off Hill Strategies for the period that spans the final leg of the election through the transition period.

The company is a boutique lobbying shop founded by Tripp Baird, who was once director of government relations for the conservative organization Heritage Action for America. The contract began in late October, while Biden was ahead of Trump in almost all national polls. It is also advised that the $ 25,000-per-month agreement runs until January 18, two days before Biden is due to be inaugurated.

The main focus of Off Hill’s lobbying work, according to the treaty, is “to support the public relations work of the embassy congress and to further develop bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America”. A separate report on lobbying disclosure shows that Off Hill helped Saudi Arabia “gather information about year-end omnibus legislation”.

Baird has not returned a request for comment.

In another case, the Saudis turned to a leading public relations firm to help develop an expensive urban development designed to bolster the country’s growing international ambitions.

According to a file, a senior PR juggernaut Edelman emailed a massive Saudi land development leader named Neom to clarify their agreement. Jere Sullivan, the company’s vice chairman for global public affairs, told Neom that Edelman will provide strategic advice, media relations, stakeholder identification and engagement, and content development.

The agreement is set to run from mid-November to February, according to the email, and is expected to cost up to $ 75,000 per month.

According to the Edelman Foreign Lobbying Disclosure Report, Neom is “100% owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign property of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As such, its activities are monitored, directed, controlled, financed and funded subsidized by the PIF. “

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the Neom project is supported by MBS and the project is valued at $ 500 billion for the Saudi city-state. The Journal reported at the time that by 2030, MBS hopes this newly developed region will be one of the global technology centers. The Saudi leadership believes it could replace the US technology center Silicon Valley. The projected schedule for completion coincides with Biden’s first term as president and would extend beyond 2024.

Neom’s website states that it is “a region in northwestern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea to be built from the ground up as a living laboratory,” and that it “will offer a multitude of unique development opportunities as its strategic Red Sea coastal location is notable for its proximity to international markets and trade routes. “

The group expects the project to be completed in the next seven to ten years.

Sullivan declined to comment.