LegiStorm

One of Rep. Kathleen Rice's (D-N.Y.) first congressional hires has made his way to the renewable-energy sector.

Steven Coyle joined the American Clean Power Association as federal-affairs director. The ACPA spent just north of $1.9 million on its federal lobbying program in 2021. The Energy Storage Association, recently acquired by the ACPA, disclosed another $80,000 on lobbying last year.

Coyle had worked for Rice since the congresswoman took office in 2015 and left the office as a legislative assistant. Rice, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is not running for reelection this year.

Former Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) has registered as a first-time lobbyist. She's working on behalf of the energy industry.

Roby is lobbying for Enviva, which produces wood pellets to be burned as fuel and bills itself as an alternative to coal. She's part of a team at law firm Bradley representing the energy company on unspecified energy, budget, manufacturing and fuel issues affecting the wood-pellet industry.

Bradley signed Enviva in January, according to a recent disclosure. Roby joined the law firm last April as a senior adviser for governmental affairs and economic development. Roby retired from Congress at the end of last term, making her newly eligible to lobby the House under ethics rules.

The House employs more non-white staffers than ever - but their pay has yet to reach parity with their white counterparts.

Asian-Americans/Pacfic Islanders are the lowest paid racial group among House Republicans; Hispanic staff are the lowest paid among House Democrats. The average staffer from each of those groups average 91 percent of what their party pays white staffers - an average annual pay gap of about $5,000, according to LegiStorm data.

Some of that disparity stems from the fact that non-white staffers are disproportionately based out of district offices, which tend to pay less than working for a D.C. office does. Non-white district staffers make 96 percent compared to white district staffers.

Compared to their white counterparts, non-white residents of districts tend to live in more urban areas, where the cost of living is higher. That means that the average non-white district staffer should theoretically make more money than the average white district staffer. Instead, they average $2,000 less each year.

In D.C., non-white House staffers are paid 98 percent that of white staff, or about $1,000 less per year.

The pay gap holds true even when comparing many of the same job titles and considering whether staffers work in Washington or the district. White D.C. chiefs of staff average $3,900 more than non-white chiefs; district chiefs average $1,400 more when white.

LegiStorm is unable to analyze current Senate salaries due to a delay in the Report of the Secretary of the Senate. The Secretary of the Senate was required by law to publish its most recent by November 2021 and has not yet done so.

A House Ways and Means Committee attorney has left for Morgan Health, JPMorgan's health-care arm.

Orriel Richardson made the move this month and is now a Morgan Health vice president. JPMorgan launched the venture, which focuses on improving employer-sponsored health-care plans, last May.

Richardson comes from the Ways and Means Committee's Health Subcommittee, where she was Democratic counsel. She's also worked for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's Services Innovation Center and for the D.C. Department of Health Care Finance.

A GOP House aide is harvesting a new career with pesticide advocate CropLife America.

Thomas Mills is now director of federal government relations for the trade group. CropLife America disclosed spending nearly $1.7 million on its federal lobbying program last year.

Mills spent the last year as a legislative assistant to Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. Mills has also worked for then-Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and for Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.).