ABA represents the interests of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. They spent $7,330,000 on in-house lobbying during Q309. During that time period, they also paid a number of lobbying agencies to lobby on their behalf:
- Bockorny Group, Inc. - $90,000
- Heather Podesta + Partners, LLC - $80,000
- O'Neill and Associates - $10,000
- PATTON BOGGS LLP - $10,000
- Thompson Smitch Consulting Group - $30,000
In general, they lobbied on: BPA bans, child nutrition bills, ethanol, U.S. sugar subsidies, beverage container recycling, beverage taxes, food safety, trucking safety, health care, and the Employee Free Choice Act.
Specifically, they lobbied on:
S.593 & H.R. 1523 - Ban Poisonous Additives (BPA) Act
S. 634 & H.R. 1585 - FIT Kids Act
H.R. 1324 - Child Nutrition Promotion & School Lunch Protection Act
S. 753 - A bill to prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of children's food or beverage containers composed of BPA.
Child Nutrition Reauthorization
Biofuel/Ethanol re: corn diversion from food processing
Sugar issues re: U.S. sugar subsidy program
Climate change legislation re: increasing beverage container recycling
H.R. 3203 - Potential tax on beverages for Federal Clean Water Trust Fund
H.R. 3200 - "Potential excise tax on beverages for funding Health Care overhaul re: unfair taxes"
H.R. 1322 - Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards, and Targeting Act
H.R. 759 - Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act
S. 510 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
S. 560 & H.R. 1409 - Employee Free Choice Act
H.R. 1799 - Safe and Efficient Transportation Act
H.R. 2046 - Bottle Recycling Climate Protection Act
S. 3475 - Bottled Water Safety and Right to Know Act
H.R. 2454 - American Clean Energy and Security Act
H.R. 2521 - National Infrastructure Development Bank Act
H.R. 1145 - National Water Research and Development Initiative Act
Meet the Lobbyists
Their in-house lobbying was done by:
Susan Neely: Neely joined the ABA in 2005. Before that, she worked in the Bush Administration in Homeland Security. She's also worked for the health insurance industry.
Judith Thorman
Barbara Hiden
Bill McManus
Their Bockorny Group lobbying was done by:
David Bockorny: He was a Legislative Aide to Rep/Senator James Abdnor, a Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs for President Reagan, and the Director of Congressional Relations on George H.W. Bush's 1992 presidential campaign. He's the CEO of the company and one of the top lobbyists in DC.
Melissa Schulman: In 1984, Schulman was a staff assistant to Geraldine Ferraro. In 1985, she was a Legislative Aide to Thomas Manton. From 1990-1994, she was a floor assistant to the House Democratic Caucus. From 1995-1998, she was policy director for Rep. Steny Hoyer. She also served as Executive Director to the Democratic Caucus.
Andrew Dodson: Dodson is very close to groups of conservative Democrats, such as the Blue Dogs and the Democratic Leadership Council. He's specifically worked with Rep. Bill Sarpalius and Rep. Max Sandlin, and served as a regional finance director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in the 1996 campaign cycle under Martin Frost. When he's not busy working for conservative Democrats, Dodson enjoys working as a lobbyist. He's been with Bockorny since 2005.
Brenda Reese: This says it all:
Brenda B. Reese joined the firm after 14 years on Capitol Hill; the last 10 spent serving 3 different members of the House Republican Leadership. Brenda served as Conference Coordinator for then-Chairman of the House Republican Conference, Congressman John Boehner (R-OH). Brenda worked closely with GOP senior Leadership and Committee staff to determine the weekly agenda for House Republicans. Brenda served in the same capacity for Congressman Dick Armey (R-TX), coordinating all activities surrounding the unveiling of the successful Republican campaign plan "Contract with America." Brenda's years of House Leadership experience began with Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) after working at the Department of Transportation during the Reagan Administration.
P. Scott Shearer: He's a big ag shill. He worked at the USDA in 1996-1997.
P. Scott Shearer has extensive trade policy expertise. Having served as co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for U.S.-China Trade and co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), Scott was instrumental in the successful passage of China permanent normal trade relations and TPA. In 1999, Scott was named a private sector member of the U.S. delegation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Seattle. Prior to joining the firm in 2003, Scott was Director of National Relations for Farmland Industries, Inc. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, directing the agency's legislative efforts including the 1996 Farm Bill, trade policy, USDA reorganization, crop insurance reform, food safety and nutrition. In the mid-1980s, Scott was executive director of the National Corn Growers Association after serving as a legislative assistant to Senator Alan J. Dixon (IL).
Michaela Sims: She was counsel to conservative Dem Sen. Ben Nelson from 2001-2007. Prior to that she worked for Sen. Bob Kerrey.
Ryan Guthrie: He spent 8 years working for Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN), ultimately rising to the job of Chief of Staff. He's tight with conservative Democrats.
Nicole Venable: She's actually new to Bockorny Group, and she comes directly from spending 5 years at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as their Director of International Trade. It appears that Venable arrived on the Hill in 1993, when she went to work as a Legislative Assistant for Sen. Charles Robb (D-VA). She left in 1996, going to work in the Clinton Administration in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 1996-1998. She served there as a Congressional Affairs Specialist (which is like being a lobbyist from within the government). Next she went to work for now shamed Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) from 1998-2002. She took a break from working for Jefferson to work for PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactuers of America) before going back to work for him again from 2003-2004 as his Chief of Staff.
Their Thompson Smitch Consulting Group lobbying was done by:
Tim Thompson: He spent 10 years working for Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA)
Robert Thoms: His career on the Hill began in 1991-1993, when he worked on legislative affairs for the Navy. From 1993-1995, he was a staffer for Rep. John LaFalce (D-NY). Then he went to work as a lobbyist from 1995-1997. In 1998, he went back to the Hill to work for Rep. Jeff Gombosky until 2000. In 2000, he worked on Sen. Cantwell's campaign and then went to work on her staff from 2000-2007. When he left Sen. Cantwell's staff, he went to work as a lobbyist for Thompson Smitch.
Their Patton Boggs lobbying was done by:
Joshua Greene: Greene worked for Rep. Eliot Engel from 1993-1995 and Rep. Jerry Nadler from 1996-1999
Carolina Mederos: She worked for the Dept of Transportation from 1976-1990. She joined Patton Boggs in 1998.
Stuart Pape: He worked at the FDA from 1974-1979. Now he is a partner at Patton Boggs. Here's his bio from their website:
Stuart Pape helps clients understand and meet challenges presented by regulations imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and similar health and safety regulatory bodies worldwide. He focuses on assisting clients in obtaining approval of new food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices; advising on labeling and advertising of regulated products; assisting in enforcement proceedings initiated by regulatory bodies; and lobbying in connection with legislative consideration of statutory changes to the laws governing FDA-regulated products. Mr. Pape is managing partner of Patton Boggs and a member of its Executive and Management Committees.
Mr. Pape regularly appears before the FDA; USDA; the Consumer Product Safety Commission; the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; numerous other federal and state regulatory bodies; and the Congress of the United States. Mr. Pape served in various positions in the Office of the Chief of Counsel at the FDA prior to joining the firm in 1980. He is the former associate chief counsel for food, and from 1978-1979, served as executive assistant to FDA Commissioner Donald Kennedy.
Their O'Neill and Associates lobbying was done by:
John Cahill: He's the Vice Chairman of the company. He began his career in D.C. by working in the office of the Speaker of the House. Following that, he went to work in Massachusetts for many years, including a job as "director of external affairs" for MassPort. That was essentially a lobbying job, working on all legislative and policy matters at all governmental levels that would impact MassPort.
Michael Flood: He's got 16 years of lobbying experience.
Brad Freeman: He worked for a member of the MA State Legislature before going to work on Bill Richardson's 2008 presidential campaign.
Their lobbying by Heather Podesta + Partners was done by:
Heather Podesta: In 2003, she was counsel to Rep. Robert Matsui. She was also counsel to Rep. Earl Pomeroy, Legislative Fellow to Bill Bradley, and worked in the Central Budget Office as a Research Assistant.
Mary Stanton: She began her career in 2001 as an Intern for Rep. Dick Gephardt. From there, she worked for Sen. Herb Kohl from 2002-2004, and Rep. Anthony Weiner from 2004-2005. Next, she was a Legislative Assistant and Policy Advisor to the Senate Special Committee on Aging from 2005-2007. Then she went back to work for Sen. Kohl in 2007. |
