LegiStorm

Former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) is now a first-time registered federal lobbyist.

Per a recent disclosure, Garrett is representing Honduras Próspera Inc., a U.S.-based investment group that operates a special economic zone in Honduras. Garrett is lobbying on trade, economic development, foreign relations and immigration issues related to the zone.

Garrett served in Congress from 2003-2017. After losing his 2016 election bid, Garrett became Donald Trump's pick to head the Export-Import Bank of the United States but was not confirmed. He later served as a senior adviser to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

One of Rep. Anthony D'Esposito's (R-N.Y.) first hires has left for the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.

Sarah Talmage joined the trade association earlier this month as a government-affairs director. In the last year, CIAB spent about $1.4 on its federal lobbying program, which includes an in-house team and an ongoing relationship with Steptoe & Johnson.

Talmage was most recently D'Esposito's deputy chief of staff. She was previously legislative director to then-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.).

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Republicans have added a new labor lobbyist to their ranks.

Brian Walsh joined the committee from the National Association of Manufacturers, where he was a director for labor and employment policy. He was a member of NAM's massive lobbying team, which, according to disclosures, cost the trade group $12.2 million to run over the course of the last year.

Walsh is now a HELP Committee policy adviser handling labor issues under Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Walsh is an alumnus of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy and Office of the Secretary.

The House's pay gap between its Caucasian staffers and the lowest-paid racial groups expanded from Q1 to Q2, according to a new LegiStorm analysis.

In the first quarter, Hispanic staffers were House Democrats' lowest-paid racial group and made a median salary that was 94% that of the median white staffer. That disparity widened to 92% in Q2, leaving Hispanic staffers and American-Asian and Pacific Islanders staffers tied for the party's lowest-paid racial group in Q2.

Black staffers, House Republicans' worst-paid racial group, made 93% that of the median white staffer in Q1. In Q2, Black Republican staffers made 91% that of their white counterparts.

Those pay disparities mean that in six months, Democrats paid their Caucasian staffers a median of over $2,500 more than Hispanic and AAPI staffers, while Republicans paid their Caucasian staffers a median of $3,000 more than their Black staffers.

The racial pay gap held true among staffers with policy and communications job functions. Among constituent services staffers, the median white and non-white aide made virtually the same pay. This analysis does not compare exact job titles.

This analysis examines the median pay across all full-time House staffers but does not reflect further distribution of those pay differences. These salary rates include any annual bonuses and may not necessarily reflect the median staffer's pay rate for the entire year.

The House continues to put a higher proportion of its official expenses toward staffer pay, even as personal offices struggle to use up their official budgets.

In the first half of the year, the average personal office used 38.78% of its total annual budget, according to a LegiStorm analysis of the House's latest spending data. Of those expenses, 79% went toward staffer compensation. Staffer pay accounted for 77% and 74% of all personal-office expenses in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Despite staffer pay taking up a higher proportion of funds, offices are using a smaller proportion of their budgets than they did before the 2022 Members' Representational Allowance increase. Including expenses that were reported late, offices spent an average of 89% of their budgets in 2022 and 95% in 2021. This year, the average personal office is on track to use only 78% of its annual budget - leaving the average office with more than $430,000 in unspent funds that could have gone toward greater staffer compensation.