Lobbyists Gear Up to Woo Debt Committee

Lobbyists aren’t waiting around to air their concerns before the new debt panel—and many are getting a head start, pushing their agendas with the lower committees that will send recommendations to the supercommittee in October. “I think you always want to start in the best possible position and not have to rely on a last-minute fix,” notes one. “You want to start essentially as they are germinating the ideas.”

Many in Washington fear the panel could fail to get anything meaningful accomplished, but lobbyists aren’t so sure, notes Politico. “Most clients are not assuming sequestration is the final route, even if they think it might be better for them,” says another. And not everyone is on the defensive, trying to keep their priorities from getting slashed. The Chamber of Congress, for instance, is pushing for “comprehensive” tax reform. Regardless of their pet issue, notes an industry advocate, “it would be a disadvantage to anybody to treat this like just another issue, just another tax bill, and I think there may be a lot more attention paid as to what that advocacy is.” (More lobbyists stories.)