Bottom Line

• AGRICULTURE. Bergeson & Campbell has been hired by Dow AgroSciences to lobby on “USDA conservation programs, farm bill, clean water standards, nutrient use,” according to lobbying disclosure records. 

• DEFENSE. Podesta Group has been hired by FlexTech Alliance, a San Jose, Calif.-based nonprofit electronics-industry consortium, to lobby on “FY 2013 Department of Defense appropriations,” according to lobbying disclosure records. Jim Dyer, a former staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, and Beth Inadomi, former staff counsel for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, are lobbying for the consortium. 

{mosads}Etherton and Associates has been hired by the Consortium for Energy, Environment and Demilitarization, a research and development group that partners with the U.S. Army, to lobby on “implementation of other transaction authority in title 10 U.S.C.,” according to lobbying disclosure records. Jonathan Etherton, a former professional staff member for the Senate Armed Services Committee, is lobbying for the consortium. 

• EDUCATION. Akerman Senterfitt has been hired by Sunstate College Inc. to lobby on “Student Loan Interest Rate Legislation Ability-to-Benefit Student Eligibility Workforce Investment Act,” according to lobbying disclosure records. 

• HEALTHCARE. Patton Boggs has been hired by the POMCO Group to lobby on “healthcare,” according to lobbying disclosure records. Emily Dillard, a former healthcare legislative aide for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), is lobbying for the company. 

• TAX. Deloitte Tax has been hired by the General Insurance Association of Japan to lobby on “The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),” according to lobbying disclosure records. 

• TRADE. Steptoe & Johnson has been hired by Superior Essex Inc., an Atlanta-based wire and cable manufacturer, to lobby on “suspension of U.S. trade duties on specific products for inclusion in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill,” according to lobbying disclosure records. Leslie Belcher, former chief of staff to Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and Douglas Kantor, former special counsel and deputy chief of staff for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, are lobbying for the company.