LegiStorm

Intel Corp. has snagged a Republican staffer for its government-affairs team, just as Congress renews focus on addressing the semiconductor-chip shortage.

Pat Arlantico is now a senior manager for government affairs at Intel. Intel, which spent just under $4.5 million on federal lobbying in the last year, is the world's biggest chip maker by revenue.

Arlantico was most recently deputy chief of staff to Rep. Rogers Williams (R-Texas), vice ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, and has also worked for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Intel's PAC gave $10,000 to Williams' campaign last cycle, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Amid an ongoing chip shortage, Congress is reportedly working to pass a funding deal that would provide $52 billion for domestic production. The Senate passed a version of the funding package last summer, though progress has since stagnated. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed hopes yesterday that the final bill would be passed next month.

Former Rep. and Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has registered his first federal lobbying clients.

Through the Peterson Group, the ex-congressman is lobbying on agricultural issues for the Kansas Livestock Association and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, according to a pair of recent disclosures.

The Peterson Group disclosed its first lobbying clients earlier this year but did not list the former congressman among its registered lobbyists.

Peterson served 30 years in the House until losing his 2020 reelection bid to now-Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.). He launched his eponymous agricultural consulting firm last year.

Elliot Peterson, the congressman's son and longtime campaign treasurer, and Allison Stock, his former congressional chief of staff, make up the rest of the Peterson Group's lobbying team.

A Senate Commerce attorney has found a new home with Airbnb.

Alex Kiles is now senior counsel for policy for the vacation-rental-marketplace company. Airbnb lobbies on issues ranging from privacy, to taxes, to housing U.S. Forest Service firefighters.

Kiles was most recently investigative counsel and policy adviser to Senate Commerce Democrats. He's also worked for the House Oversight Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

In a sign of the times, the Human Milk Banking Association of North America has hired its first lobbyists.

The organization, which accredits nonprofit milk banks in the U.S. and Canada, hired the Raben Group amid the infant-formula crisis. The team is lobbying on the Donor Milk Safety Act and other milk-bank and donor-milk issues, according to a recent disclosure.

This appears to be the first lobbying filing to address the formula shortage, according to a LegiStorm review of disclosures. But it's unlikely to be the only lobbying work on the issue: Lobbyists have until July 20 to disclose what issues they're working on in the second quarter and 45 days from the start of a contract to disclose work with new clients.

House Republicans edged out Democrats in first-quarter staffer pay, thanks to a bigger pay bump among GOP personal offices.

House Republicans averaged 6 percent higher pay per staffer than in the same time period last year, according to LegiStorm data. House Democrats averaged a 3 percent increase.

Full-time Republican staffers took home an average 2022 Q1 salary rate of $70,280 per year. Democrats had an average salary rate of $69,440, which works out to $210 per quarter less than Republicans.

A year before, Republicans paid an average annualized rate of $66,372, compared to $67,432 for Democrats — or $265 per quarter more for Democratic staffers.

In March, Congress authorized a 21 percent increase to the House's office budgets for 2022. That increase was intended to bolster staffer pay in hopes of attracting and retaining talent. Second-quarter salaries, which the House is due to publish by late August, will likely reflect further-increased pay rates for both parties.