In the May 12 edition of the POLITICO Influence — a leading government relations beat in Washington, D.C. — TRP’s newest memo outlining the next few months of Congressional activity in the era of COVID-19 was highlighted as the lead story. The memo contains a short- and long-term outlook for activity on Capitol Hill during the pandemic, including additional pandemic response legislation, fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations, and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), among other things. You can read this memo in its entirety here.
Thorn Run Partners is proud to have been listed as a “top firm” for the first quarter of 2020 by POLITICO Influence — the leading government affairs beat in Washington, D.C. Since its founding in 2010, TRP has consistently ranked among Washington’s fastest growing lobbying firms according to analysis from Politico, The Hill, Bloomberg Government, and others. In the writeup of this announcement, TRP’s Andy Rosenberg was cited for his perspective on the current landscape for lobbying activity in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. “The current rush of lobbying activity will probably be followed by some degree of economic downturn, and that’s never good for anyone’s business,” said Rosenberg. “However, the fact that every public and private entity now realizes the importance of the federal government to their economic future should cut the other way for the better government affairs firms.”
In today’s POLITICO “Morning Money” newsletter — a leading financial services beat in Washington, D.C. — TRP’s Jason Rosenstock provided an overview on the current state of play for the timing of Congressional action to replenish the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Rosenstock noted that as of this past Saturday, SBA has approved 725,000 loans totaling more than $189 billion. He also citing the increased urgency for Congress to address additional funding for the program as the applications continue to pour in. “Increasing the pool of eligible lenders via the inclusion of fintech and other non-bank lenders last week may accelerate the PPPs burn rate,” said Rosenstock. “However, it is unclear whether it will do so at a speed that forces Congressional Democrats and Republicans to finalize a deal this week.”
On Friday, Mar. 27, TRP Co-founder Andy Rosenberg participated in an Alliance for Health Policy webinar on the legislative and regulatory efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak. Rosenberg provided the audience with a high-level overview of the legislative activity in Congress to stem the impact of the outbreak. He also forecasted future actions that lawmakers could take to address existing and emerging COVID-19 issues.”If there’s one thing we’ve seen so far, it’s that this trajectory has just been faster and more dire than we’ve expected,” said Rosenberg. “So even though Congress expects to be out of town until April 20, we imagine that when they return at the end of April, there will probably be some urgent needs in industries and sectors that we can’t even predict right now that they’ll have to get to work on.”
In today’s Washington Post “Finance 202” newsletter — a leading beat for financial services news in Washington, D.C. — TRP’s Jason Rosenstock offered commentary on what Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s departure from the 2020 presidential race means for financial regulations moving forward. While the piece notes that industry leaders don’t believe former Vice President Joe Biden would bring the type of regulatory change that Sen. Warren promised in her campaign, Rosenstock astutely pointed out that the leftward shift of the Democratic party could indicate that the some of the Massachusetts Senator’s ideas for financial regulation could come to fruition. “Warren may ultimately win the ideas primary,” said Rosenstock. “And a lot of the stuff she’s proposed may find its way into platform.”
In an article for The Hill, TRP Partner Jason Rosenstock provided commentary on former New York City Mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s proposed financial reform plan. While the article notes that Bloomberg’s proposal puts him within the mainstream Democratic party, Rosenstock points out that Wall Street may find elements of the plan troubling as he positions himself to make inroads with the party’s left flank. “It’s indicative of how far the Democratic primary voters have shifted to the left when this proposal is sort of seen as a center-left proposal,” said Rosenstock.
In an article for Inside Health Policy, TRP’s Senior Vice President Shea McCarthy shared his insight on the impact of Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) support for the Grassley-Wyden drug pricing legislation. While Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been touting the increased support for his signature drug pricing bill among Republican Senators, McCarthy pointed out that Sen. Ernst’s contemporaneous endorsement of a competing drug pricing bill may serve to highlight the GOP’s intraparty schisms on drug pricing policies. “[Ernst’s] dual endorsement of the Finance package and the alternative from Sen. Crapo effectively reinforces Leader McConnell’s perspective that there are major divisions in the Senate GOP conference over how to address drug pricing,” said McCarthy.
In an article for CQ Roll Call, TRP’s Jason Rosenstock offered his insights on Congress’s Financial Services “to-do” list for 2020. While speculation indicates that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will spend more time on presidential nominations in 2020, Rosenstock pointed to cannabis banking legislation, anti-money laundering laws, and flood insurance reform as top priority policy items that could hitch a ride on a larger financial services-related package or must-pass measure before the end of this year. “Clearly there is a broad interest in getting some type of relief for banks and payment processors,” said Rosenstock. “But whether there is enough support for a narrow, financial services industry-only fix will play itself out over the next year.”
In an article for Skilled Nursing News, TRP Senior Vice President Andrea Maresca was quoted following a recent decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to extend the comment period for its proposed rule on supplemental payment programs under Medicaid. The article cites Maresca’s presentation at the American Health Care Association’s (AHCA) 2019 annual convention and expo, where she acutely noted that oversight of these programs has been a long-standing concern for the agency as they have evolved over time. “All of this is driving work in the agency to come up with a regulation that will put more parameters about how supplemental payment programs would work in the future,” stated Maresca at the October conference. “The agency is also concerned about the lack of a clear link between how payments are made to providers, and whether these are made based on services delivered or somehow tied to quality and outcomes.”
