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With Daniel Lippman

READY, SET, LOBBY — While the balance of power in Congress is still in flux, K Street isn’t waiting to see any final tallies before flooding Capitol Hill to ensure their priorities are included in legislation before the end of the year.

And lobbyists are buzzing about the possibility of Congress moving an omnibus instead of a more narrow CR as the year-end vehicle, paving the way for a more extensive package.

— “Uncertainty around the lame duck could reinforce the alignment needed among the four squares to come together on a deal - possibly a big deal,” said Karishma Shah Page, who co-leads the public policy and law practice at K&L Gates.

Adding to that, lobbyists say: Two longtime appropriators, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), are retiring and want to leave on a high note.

Lawmakers need to address a number of expiring federal programs and extenders in the tax, health and homeland security spaces, and there will be a push to tackle previous legislative efforts that had been left on the cutting room floor — including certain trade provisions left out of the CHIPS and Science Act passed earlier this year.

“The thing with lame duck lobbying is, you have to have your ducks in a row early because when things move, they move fast and they rarely change,” said Jeff Forbes, co-founder of Forbes Tate Partners. Although lobbyists have been working on their issues for months, that activity is now kicking into high gear: “One hundred percent,” he said.

Congress also could come back to the Respect for Marriage Act, which ensures federal protections for same-sex marriages, and move election reforms. Robert Mangas at Greenberg Traurig has a summary of the wants and must-dos on Capitol Hill: READ IT.

— But coming to an agreement on a larger package requires bipartisan cooperation, and the unsettled outcome of key congressional races is leading to even more unpredictability around the lame-duck session than usual, lobbyists say.

The razor-thin margins in each chamber incentivize members to clear the deck before the next Congress, said Marc Lampkin, the co-chair of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s government relations department. But the high-stakes Senate runoff in Georgia and other post-election dynamics that “preoccupy members of Congress from what’s in front of them” has become a complicating factor.

“Trying, from a K Street perspective, to get them to pay attention to your discrete but important legislative item is challenging,” he said.

Happy Friday and welcome to PI. My name is Megan Wilson, and I cover lobbying and influence on POLITICO’s health care team. I’m filling in for Caitlin today, but looking for health advocacy gossip every day — don’t hesitate to reach out to me: [email protected].

GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE LOBBYING: “Gender-affirming care providers are lobbying to ensure they can continue to prescribe testosterone virtually after the pandemic ends,” POLITICO’sBen Leonard reports.

— “Plume, a Denver-based provider, has paid Washington firm Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas $260,000 since September 2021 to lobby Congress and HHS to extend the eased pandemic rules allowing patients to receive controlled substances without first going to an in-person doctor’s visit. … Those rules expire when HHS ends the Covid-19 public health emergency that now runs till mid-January.”

— “Plume is also pushing for testosterone, a hormone prescribed in gender-affirming care, to be rescheduled or removed from the DEA’s list of controlled substances. Its current classification, Schedule III, indicates that it has a ‘moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.’”

— “The providers argue that allowing patients to get virtual care from home is especially helpful for people seeking gender transition, given the stigma many transgender people face, and the lack of providers offering the care in some areas of the country. … Last week, Florida medical boards approved rules restricting children from having gender-affirming care, and more states could follow.”

ALEC LAUNCHES PUSH AGAINST ‘WOKE CAPITALISM’: “A powerful rightwing pressure group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is pushing states to adopt a new law shielding all U.S. businesses from political boycotts,’” reports Chris McGreal at The Guardian.

— “The new model legislation requires every ‘governmental entity,’ which covers a wide array of bodies from state government to local police departments and public universities, to include a clause in contracts requiring businesses to pledge they ‘will not engage in economic boycotts.’”

— Within the proposed law’s text: “Corporations are boycotting and sanctioning essential industries, such as fossil fuel and agriculture producers, by refusing to provide them with products or services or imposing undue burdens on them. … Banks are increasingly denying financing to creditworthy companies solely for the purpose of marketing their environmental or social justice credentials, to the detriment of their clients and shareholders.”

— “ALEC, which is funded by major corporations, intends to press state legislators to adopt the readymade law, the eliminate political boycotts act, at its closed-door States and Nation Policy Summit in Washington D.C. at the end of this month.”

FEC TO VOTE ON UPPING DISCLOSURE FOR DIGITAL ADS: “The Federal Election Commission is taking a significant step towards regulating digital political ads, taking up a measure to force disclosure of paid advertising on leading social and streaming platforms, according to documents posted by the FEC,” reports Axios’ Lachlan Markay.

—“Spending on digital ads skyrocketed in the 2022 cycle and is only expected to grow. But watchdogs say they've escaped transparency measures reserved for more traditional political advertising.”

— “The rule would require digital ads to disclose the entity paying for them … It would also significantly expand the types of digital ads subject to the regulations — not just traditional banner ads or videos, but also paid social media endorsements and ‘influencer marketing’ efforts.”

— “The FEC is scheduled to vote on the measure next week — and is forgoing a public comment period on the regulation, according to [Republican FEC commissioner Sean] Cooksey. … Despite its bipartisan backing, the new measure is already drawing some internal opposition.”

OIL LOBBYIST BOOM AT CLIMATE CONFERENCE: “At least 636 representatives of the fossil fuel industry registered to attend the ongoing COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a sharp increase over the industry’s already massive presence last year, according to a report released by three advocacy groups,” reports Adam Taylor at The Washington Post.

— “That number means the industry presence once again tops the number of representatives from any single national delegation, except that of the United Arab Emirates — a major fossil fuel-producing nation that is set to host next year’s COP conference.”

— “The groups behind the report — Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory and Global Witness — said in a joint statement that their analysis showed that industry influence at the top climate summit was growing, even as global policymakers tried to mitigate the impact of the industry.”

— “Many fossil fuel companies argue that they must be part of the solution to climate change, setting net-zero emissions targets and publicizing emissions-reducing programs.”

— Eric Dell will be the next president and CEO of the American Bakers Association. He was most recently executive vice president at the National Automatic Merchandising Association.

— Mary Blanche Hankey has been promoted to chief of staff to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). She is currently his chief council and policy adviser.

— Katie Donnell is now associate director of government affairs at Palo Alto Networks. She most recently served as a government and regulatory affairs executive at IBM and is a Trump NSC and State Department alum.

— Juan Mejia has been named government relations manager at the advocacy firm Lobbyit. He was previously an associate at Cornerstone Government Affairs and deputy executive director of coalitions for Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.

McCormick Victory Fund (Friends of McCormick, Old Breed PAC)

Georgia Blue PAC (Super PAC)

The Jerry Costello Group, LLC: Memorial Health

Signal Group Consulting, LLC: Nantero Inc.

Ward And Smith, P.A.: Epsilon, Inc.

K&L Gates, LLP: Motional Ad Inc.

Hannegan Landau Poersch & Rosenbaum Advocacy, LLC: Gecko Robotics, Inc.

ML Strategies, LLC: Iqe Plc

The Russell Group, Inc.: The Good Food Institute, Inc.

Thorn Run Partners: America'S Physician Groups

Holland & Knight LLP: Quadrant International

Tiber Creek Group: Retractable Technologies, Inc.