LegiStorm

A telecommunications lobbyist has returned to the Senate for a legislative assistant position on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet Subcommittee under Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Crystal Tully registered to lobby last year for the Competitive Carriers Association while working as director of legislative affairs for the wireless providers' group. She has also served as law clerk at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission since leaving the Hill in 2009. 

Tully first registered to lobby between 2010 and 2012 for Charter Communications Inc. while working as manager of federal government relations.

The new committee staffer started her first stint in the Senate in 2005 as a staff assistant in Sen. John Sununu's (R-N.H.) office after graduating from the University of New Hampshire. She rose to legislative correspondent before leaving the Senate at the end of Sununu's term.

Tully has lobbied on a variety of telecommunications issues, from online piracy to cybersecurity. Her husband, Ryan Tully, is a professional staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Former Sen. Mark Udall's (D-Colo.) legislative director has landed an advocacy job at Pew Charitable Trusts.

Jake Swanton now serves as director of government relations at Pew after nearly eight years of legislative work in the Senate. He started in 2007 as deputy legislative assistant to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and moved to Udall's office in 2009 where his first title was legislative assistant.

Swanton has a bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary and a master's from the George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration.

The new Pew staffer also worked on two Democratic presidential campaigns, first in 2004 for John Kerry and in 2012 for President Barack Obama's Colorado staff.

Pew, which has $5 billion in assets, lobbies on a variety of issues, including health care, clean energy and food safety, according to filings. 

A registered lobbyist for a range of clients at the Podesta Group Inc. has taken a job as communications director for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Rebecca Edgar, who also worked at PodestaMattoon and Mattoon and Associates LLC through a spin-off, registered to lobby between 2001 and 2010. She served as chief of staff at Podesta from 2010 to October of last year and works now for the Republicans on the committee.

Edgar most recently registered to lobby in 2010 for clients including United Continental Holdings Inc., AT&T Inc. and FedEx Corp. She also worked for the National Republican Congressional Committee between 1999 and 2001 and earned a bachelor's in public relations from Pennsylvania State University.

A registered lobbyist for more than a decade who lobbied on behalf of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and National Restaurant Association has started as professional staff member on the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Michelle Reinke Neblett served as senior director of labor and workforce policy for the restaurant trade association from 2006 until this month when she moved to Congress. She has been the point person on the Affordable Care Act for the group, working on its impact on the restaurant industry and implementation, according to her LinkedIn page.

In 2013, Neblett testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on the challenges of the health care law. 

Since 2006, Neblett has lobbied on a range of issues for the association, including food regulations, the health law and immigration reform. She also registered to lobby for the beef industry group while working as the associate director of legislative affairs between 2000 and 2006.

Neblett graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 2000. 

A disgraced former Texas state representative and convicted felon has joined Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson's (D-Texas) staff in Dallas.

Terri Hodge served for more than a decade in the Texas House before her 2010 conviction for lying on her tax returns in connection with a public corruption investigation. Hodge received a one-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count of fraud and now serves as Johnson's district outreach consultant.

Johnson's communications director, Yinka Robinson, declined to comment on the hire citing a policy of not publicly discussing personnel matters.

Prosecutors said Hodge failed to report income of more than $40,000, some of it from campaign contributions, over the course of several years. Additionally, a developer paid expenses for a Dallas-area house Hodge owned and in return she allegedly wrote letters to help him get tax credits for low-income housing projects.

After the guilty plea, Hodge resigned and withdrew from an ongoing re-election campaign.

But after serving her time in prison, Hodge was back campaigning last year to be vice chairwoman of the Texas Democratic Party, though she later lost. She was also reportedly doing campaign projects for Johnson.

Hodge quietly joined Johnson's official Dallas staff in January.