Nintendo bolsters lobbying presence — Anheuser-Busch brings on Kit Bond Strategies — Ag Committee staffer to launch PR firm Presented by the Consumer Brands Association

By Tarini Parti and Adam Sneed

NINTENDO BOLSTERS LOBBYING PRESENCE: Nintendo of America has hired Choe Groves Consulting to lobby the federal government on issues related to intellectual property, international trade and anti-piracy measures, according to the latest lobbying disclosures. The video game and consumer electronics company is reportedly developing a new gaming system as it struggles to compete with Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.


Lobbying on Nintendo’s behalf will be Choe Groves’ Jennifer Groves, a former senior director for IP and innovation at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. This is Nintendo’s first new lobbying registration in more than 11 years. All of the company’s registered lobbying work at the federal level since 2003 has been handled by Donald Massey, and it has reported spending just $50,000 on lobbying since the end of 2009.

ANHEUSER-BUSCH BRINGS ON KIT BOND STRATEGIES: St. Louis-based beer giant Anheuser-Busch has signed with Kit Bond Strategies as it renews its push to pass the Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act. The BEER Act introduced in the 113th Congress sought to reduce the tax on beer production from $18 per barrel to $9 per barrel and to further reduce taxes on breweries that produce fewer than 2 million barrels a year.

The BEER Act saw support from other large breweries including MillerCoors, Heineken USA, and Crown Imports, as well as the Beer Institute. Small breweries, however, with help from the Brewers Association, supported the Small BREW Act, a competing bill that offered a different tax structure for breweries with lower levels of production.

Lobbyist Shana Marchio, a former communications director for ex-Sen. Kit Bond, will hold an educational series of meetings on beer production for Anheuser-Busch, according to the lobbying registration. Anheuser-Busch has reported spending $2.71 million on lobbying so far this year, and parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev has reported spending an additional $680,000.

GOOD MONDAY AFTERNOON, where it’s been 25 years since the reopening of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, which offered symbolic confirmation of Germany’s reunification. Send us your lobbying news, gossip, tips and scoops to [email protected]. And keep up with PI on Twitter by following @ PoliticoPI.

Programming note: Tomorrow will be the last PI of the year. We will return on Jan. 5. Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

AG COMMITTEE STAFFER TO LAUNCH PR FIRM: Tamara Hinton, communications director for the House Agriculture Committee, is leaving her position to launch a public relations firm. Hinton said in an email to friends that details regarding the firm will announced in January.

LABOR’S BIG COMEBACK: Via POLITICO’s Timothy Noah, “After a brutal battering in the midterms, organized labor will conclude 2014 with the wind at its back — thanks to two out-of-the-way corners of the Obama administration whose default posture in recent memory has been paralysis.

The agencies in question are the National Labor Relations Board and the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. Both spent the past decade largely crippled by congressional obstruction, first from Democratic majorities and then from Republican ones. Now freed from those obstacles — at least for the moment — and operating under Democratic leadership impatient to make up for lost time, these agencies are promoting workers’ and unions’ rights more aggressively than Washington has witnessed in a generation.” Full story here: http://politi.co/1Cv9Wn5

CORRECTION: In Friday’s edition, PI incorrectly named the retiring House member in negotiations for post-Congress jobs. The member is Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran.

ELSEWHERE IN THE INFLUENCE WORLD:

CARDS FOR TRANSPARENCY: The ninth day of Cards Against Humanity’s holiday promotion had a special twist: Anyone who bought the special holiday expansion pack got a list of who contributed to their senators’ campaigns (D.C. residents saw a list of Mitch McConnell’s contributions). More from the Sunlight Foundation, which also received a donation from the game company : http://bit.ly/1Azkrq0 And don’t miss Cards’ satirical infographic on the stunt: http://bit.ly/1AzkuCg

BIGGEST SUPER PAC BACKERS: National Journal’s Zach Cohen looks at the nine biggest super PAC bankrollers of the year: http://bit.ly/1AzliqH

DECK THE HALLS: Home Depot’s government relations office in Washington has once again gone all out with its holiday decorations. Pictures of the office here: http://bit.ly/1AQBiTD And The Internet Association wishes the online community happy holidays with a new video: http://bit.ly/1zOarb4

NEW JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMITTEES (Members of JFC):

None

NEW PAC REGISTRATIONS (Type of PAC):

None

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS: (Firm: Client)

Choe Groves Consulting: Nintendo of America

Hogan Lovells US: Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Holland & Knight: National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys

Kit Bond Strategies: Anheuser-Busch Companies

Sunrun Inc.: Sunrun Inc.

The Nickles Group: Smith & Nephew

Ulman Public Policy & Federal Relations: National Retail Federation

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS: (Firm: Client (Type of Termination))

Capitol Counsel: Fresenius Medical Care North America (Q4 Termination)

Hogan Lovells US: Edison International (Q4 Termination (No Activity))

Law Offices of Bernard Wunder (FKA Wunder & Lilley): United States Telecom Assn (Q4 Termination)

Liebman & Associates: Architected Materials (Q4 Termination)

Michelle Levy: Opportunity Finance Network (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Academy of Model Aeronautics (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Alaska Housing Finance (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Coastal Villages Region Fund (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Comcast Corporation (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Cox Enterprises (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Granite Telecommunications (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: National Business Aviation Association Inc. (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: National Cable Telecommunications Association (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: National Center for Housing Management (Q4 Termination)

Mitch Rose Strategic Consulting: Recording Industry Association of America (Q4 Termination)

Northwind Strategies: Boston Beer (Q4 Termination (No Activity))

Visiting Nurse Service of New York: Visiting Nurse Service of New York (Q4 Termination (No Activity))

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