Bottom Line: Regional ports hire former House infrastructure committee member

Ports

The ​Corn Belt Ports hired Mercury Public Affairs to lobby “to secure funding in the budget and eligibility for grant programs.” The federally recognized constellation of regional ports is eligible for billions of dollars in funding authorized under the Infrastructure and Jobs Act. Former Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos (D), who served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and retired at the end of the last Congress, will work on the account alongside her son, Nick Bustos.

Bankruptcy

Johnson & Johnson Services (J&J) hired Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough to lobby on issues related to the corporate bankruptcy process. In 2021, a J&J subsidiary began bankruptcy proceedings in an effort to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits that allege its talc-based products are linked to cancer. A bankruptcy judge threw out a Chapter 11 filing in July that would have secured an $8.9 billion settlement to resolve the talc claims, current and future, a decision J&J has reportedly appealed. David Wilkins, former U.S. ambassador to Canada, will work on the account.

Gun control

​Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, the nonprofit founded and led by families who lost loved ones at the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, hired Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to lobby on federal legislation related to gun and school violence prevention. Casey Higgins, former assistant to then-Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for policy and trade counsel, will work on the account.

Airlines

The ​Airports Council International – North America, the continent’s commercial airport ​trade association, hired the Klein/Johnson Group to lobby on issues including Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization, the Transportation Security Administration’s purview and the use of firefighting foam at commercial airports. One of the lobbyists on the account is Israel “Izzy” Klein, the former communications director for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who co-founded the firm with Matthew Johnson, a former top aide to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) who will also work on the account.

The Air Line Pilots Association hired S-3 Group to lobby on issues related to pilot retirement age. Matt Bravo, former director of floor operations for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), will work on the account.