LegiStorm

The company behind a new Washington law that will bring self-driving delivery robots to the city this fall is reaching out to the federal government to spread their autonomous delivery bots to the rest of the country. 

Starship Technologies, which has offices in the U.K. and Estonia, is lobbying the federal government on "congressional and administrative outreach and monitoring on issues involving general transportation and autonomous vehicles," according to a disclosure form.

Greenberg Traurig is handling the company’s advocacy work. Lobbyists working on the matter include former Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.), who's been the law firm's senior director since 2014.

In Washington, the existing rule will reportedly limit the robots to speeds of 10 miles per hour and weights of 50 pounds (excluding their cargo) per robot.

Kombucha Brewers International, a trade organization for makers of the fermented tea drink beloved by hipsters everywhere, is lobbying the federal government for reforms to the Internal Revenue Code.

Sales of the slightly alcoholic beverage are subject to the same Internal Revenue Code rules as other alcohol sales when the drink's alcohol levels reach 0.5 percent or higher.

The trade group is contracting with law firm McDermott Will and Emery to lobby on its behalf for "legislative changes to the Internal Revenue Code to enhance the marketability of kombucha." 

Lobbyists listed on the disclosure form are David Ransom, who formerly worked as communications director to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and to the House Administration Committee, and Erica Stocker, previously deputy chief of staff to former Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.).

After a not-so-sweet run in with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Malaysia-based sweetener company PureCircle is lobbying the federal government on "trade enforcement issues."

In June, Reuters reported that Customs had seized a shipment of the sweetener stevia imported from China. The agency had reportedly received information that forced prison labor had been involved in the sweetener's production, an alleged violation of a new law prohibiting the importation of products made by slave labor.

PureCircle disputed the claims, and Customs reportedly released the impounded shipment later that month.

Bill Simmons, previously an aide to former Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) and the House Natural Resources Committee, is handling the lobbying work through public relations firm Grayling Communications.

A U.S. railcar manufacturer is lobbying the federal government on "railcar manufacturing" issues only weeks after members of Congress called for an investigation into the company's ties with a large Chinese railcar maker.

Last month, 55 members of Congress submitted a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, requesting an investigation into ties between Vertex Railcar Corp. and the China Railroad Stock Corp., the world's largest railcar manufacturer.

The members claim that the state-owned China Railroad Stock Corp. is subsidizing Vertex, allowing the company "to underbid private competitors for railcar contracts."

"Furthermore... China's cybercrimes constitute a threat to national security," the letter states, "[that] leave us concerned that critical rail infrastructure and the sensitive cargo that it carries will become increasingly vulnerable to hackers as the proliferation of Chinese state investment continues without adequate scrutiny."

To carry out its lobbying work, Vertex has hired the Podesta Group, whose head, Tony Podesta, is the brother of John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Lobbyists 4 Good isn't the first crowdsourced advocacy group to lobby the federal government. But its funding methods might be unique.

According to the Lobbyists 4 Good website, the group relies on donations from individuals (no more than $5,000 per person) to fund its advocacy efforts. The group "use[s] 100% of the donations to pay the hourly fee of our lobbyists in D.C."

The organization explains, "We calculated that it will take about an hour and a half for a lobbyist to do the [necessary] background work, schedule and conduct the meeting, and properly follow up with a member of Congress or their staff... Every time we reach the $500 mark for a certain issue, we will instruct our lobbyists to proceed with conducting a meeting with the right congressional office to advocate on our behalf in person."

Lobbyists 4 Good lists "restoring democracy," "promoting peace" and "fighting addiction" as the issues that its board of directors chose for the group's advocacy efforts, and "the public" will vote on future issues, their website proclaims.

For now, the group has filed lobbying papers on campaign finance reform and funding for the Peace Corps and Institute of Peace.