Bottom Line

• FINANCIAL SERVICES. Capitol Counsel is urging the reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act on behalf of Chubb Corp., which is estimated to be the eighth largest casualty insurer in the United States. The program, which expires at the end of the year, hangs in the balance as it faces opposition from influential conservatives. Former Senate Banking Committee counsel Jennifer Fogel-Bublick will be working on the account.

NACHA — The Electronic Payments Association hired the firm Rich Feuer Anderson, made up of veterans from congressional financial services and banking panels, to reach out to the federal government about “legislative and regulatory initiatives addressing electronic payment systems.” This is the first outside lobbying firm employed by NACHA, which has members from some of the largest financial institutions in the country.

{mosads}•GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING. A document management service called Digital Documents is seeking contracts with the federal government and has enlisted the help of Gephardt Group Government Affairs to help navigate the complex procurement process. Former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and other Capitol Hill veterans are working on the account. 

Van Scoyoc Associates will be lobbying for Essential Security Services, a company that provides private security guards. They will be talking with federal officials about “physical security programs and implementation at facilities [and] federal funding opportunities.”

•TECHNOLOGY. The Federal Communications Commission is considering regulations to limit exposure to frequencies below 100 kHz, and Sensormatic Electronics is weighing in on that process. The company, which manufactures and sells electronic security devices that often operate below that frequency, hired a lobbyist at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. 

•SPACE AND SCIENCE. Universities Space Research Association registered its own in-house lobbyist, Kevin Schmadel, the group’s vice president of university and government relations. He will be working on issues related to the “Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and other issues of interest to the university space-related research community.”