Bottom Line

• FINANCIAL SERVICES. Chuck Cunningham, a longtime former lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, has registered to lobby for Take Back Our Republic, a conservative group that is working to enact campaign finance reforms. Among other policy moves, forms say that Cunningham will be advocating on the Stop Foreign Donations Affecting Our Elections Act. The legislation would place stricter rules on accepting campaign donations via the Internet, including address verification.

• GUNS. CZ-USA, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Czech firearms manufacturer Ceska zbrojovka Uhersky Brod, registered with its first consulting firm, Global Security & Intelligence Strategies. According to disclosure forms, CZ-USA wants to introduce itself to federal officials and promote its status as a gun manufacturer “for protection, competition and sporting purposes.” The subsidiary is the third lobbying client signed up by Global Security & Intelligence Strategies.

{mosads}• TAXES. PricewaterhouseCoopers was brought on to handle a tax issue for Occidental Petroleum Corporation. The registration deals with a tax break for companies that utilize carbon capture and sequestration technology, according to forms filed with the Senate. 

• HEALTHCARE. American Kidney Fund registered an in-house lobbyist, its director of government relations Deborah Darcy, to work on several pieces of legislation for the organization. The group, which provides financial assistance to dialysis patients and other health and educational programs, has not had any internal or external lobbyists working on its behalf since 2012.

• MUNICIPALITIES. Townsend Public Affairs signed up three new municipal clients, all based in California. For the Desert Recreation District, in Indio, Calif., Townsend will be tackling policy issues related to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund was reauthorized for three years in the omnibus spending bill passed in December, receiving $450 million to be used over the course of three years. Townsend signed another client, the County of Mariposa, to work on surface transportation issues. Finally, the Yosemite/Mariposa County Tourism Bureau hired the firm, but its advocacy plans were still “TBD,” according to disclosure forms filed with the Senate.