LegiStorm

The death of Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) left a huge void for St. Petersburg-area groups dependent on federal funding and one former Young staffer is helping to fill that void as a lobbyist.

Harry Glenn, former chief of staff to Young, has officially become a registered lobbyist after filing papers Tuesday with D.C. firm Van Scoyoc Associates on behalf of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership.

Located in Young's former district, the non-profit aims to stimulate business growth in its namesake city. Young colaborated with the organization on a number of projects during his tenure. This represents the first time that the Downtown Partnership has hired a federal lobbyist to advocate on its behalf.

While in Congress, the appropriator became known for his knack for directing earmarked money to his district - a fact not lost on the Downtown Partnership's president, Peter Betzer. In October, Betzer told the St. Petersburg Tribune, "whoever replaces him is going to be really challenged."

And that someone who will be really challenged is David Jolly, another former Young staffer and Van Scoyoc lobbyist, who won a special election to fill Young's vacated seat in Congress.

 A new House Transportation Committee aide has traded in beauty pageants for policy work.

Chelsea Welch has joined the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as a legislative assistant on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee and the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee. Welch comes to the committee with something to brag about, being crowned Miss West Virginia 2013. She also placed in 12th in the 2013 Miss USA competition. Welch has a history of participating in beauty pageants. She was Miss West Virginia Teen in 2013 and placed in the top five of Miss Teen USA in 2007.

While working on her bachelor's at Brown University, Welch interned for the House Natural Resources Committee in 2010. She also holds a master's in natural resources from the University of Georgia.

As Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) sees it, San Francisco Bay Area residents should have another option on their morning commute, so he has proposed extending commuter train service to Washington - as it turns out, only steps from his Capitol Hill office.

Or so you might believe if you read Honda's press release and didn't check today's date on the calendar.

The press release from the desk of Honda's communications director, Ken Scudder, indicates that the 2,831-mile extension of the Bay Area Rapit Transit system to the Capitol South metro station would cost $396 billion.

"While the price tag may seem a little high," Congressman Honda said in a statement, "it would only amount to a little over half of our defense spending in one year alone. I came to Congress to build bridges, not bombs. And that's exactly what I intend to do."

The release notes that the 41-hour journey would cost commuters $347.28. "Commuters will be able to pay with their DC Metro or BART smartcards, or in exact change (coins only)," the release said.

The first client of Sen. Bob Menéndez's (D-N.J.) former top legislative staffer is a giant of the pharmaceutical industry, an industry which Menéndez has championed.

Karissa Willhite, now working as a principal for Ogilvy Government Relations, has filed her first lobbying papers for her activities with AstraZeneca, the multinational with U.S. headquarters in Delaware. The former Hill staffer is helping the European corporation with efforts to reform Medicaid, Medicare and the tax code, among other issues. In 2009, her former boss opposed an amendment that would have enabled cheaper medications from being imported from Canada and other countries. Merck and Co., another pharmaceutical conglomerate, is one of many drug companies throughout the Garden State

Prior to her move to Farragut Square, Willhite served as the deputy chief of staff for policy for the past eight years. She also worked for the New Jersey Democrat as a policy director in the House Democratic Caucus and as a legislative assistant in his personal office. Willhite started her political career with Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas), first as a legislative correspondent before being promoted to legislative assistant.

A former Democratic Senate Budget Committee staffer has disclosed receiving a signing bonus and a significant raise to become an environmental analyst for Chevron Corp.

The latest financial disclosure by Tyler J. Kruzich, who served as energy and the environment analyst for the Budget Committee, indicates his salary is between $150,000 and $200,000. His signing bonus to be an environmental analyst for air, safety and security was reportedly worth between $15,000 and $50,000. For the 2013 fiscal year, Kruzich received a $130,000 salary from the Senate. He left in December.

This isn't Kruzich's first private industry job. In 2011, Kruzich took a break from the Capitol and headed to Carpi and Clay Inc. as a principal. At the Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm, Kruzich lobbied for varies local government agencies, including the Port of Long Beach Calif. and Los Angeles County, Calif.