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LOBBYING REPORT |
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Section 5) - All Filers Are Required to Complete This Page
2. Address
| Address1 | 5633 Oakland Dr. |
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| City | Tampa |
State | FL |
Zip Code | 33617 |
Country | USA |
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5. Senate ID# 400908651-12
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6. House ID# 420050001
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| TYPE OF REPORT | 8. Year | 2016 |
Q1 (1/1 - 3/31) | Q2 (4/1 - 6/30) | Q3 (7/1 - 9/30) | Q4 (10/1 - 12/31) |
9. Check if this filing amends a previously filed version of this report
| 10. Check if this is a Termination Report | Termination Date |
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11. No Lobbying Issue Activity |
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| 12. Lobbying | 13. Organizations | ||||||||
| INCOME relating to lobbying activities for this reporting period was: | EXPENSE relating to lobbying activities for this reporting period were: | ||||||||
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| Provide a good faith estimate, rounded to the nearest $10,000, of all lobbying related income for the client (including all payments to the registrant by any other entity for lobbying activities on behalf of the client). | 14. REPORTING Check box to indicate expense accounting method. See instructions for description of options. | ||||||||
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Method A.
Reporting amounts using LDA definitions only
Method B. Reporting amounts under section 6033(b)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code Method C. Reporting amounts under section 162(e) of the Internal Revenue Code |
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| Signature | Digitally Signed By: Toni Van Pelt |
Date | 4/20/2016 7:57:46 PM |
LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.
15. General issue area code FAM
16. Specific lobbying issues
With omnibus negotiations ongoing and many policy riders still under consideration, were writing to urge appropriations leadership to reject any effort to include the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) or similar language in the spending package. This is a particularly harmful refusals provision that would undermine womens ability to obtain abortion care services, including in life-threatening circumstances.
INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FY 2017 STATE-FOREIGN OPERATIONS BILL Organization: We are supportive of international family planning and reproductive health programs (see list of endorsers below) Funding Request: a total of at least $1 billion for family planning and reproductive health programs, both bilateral and multilateral, with funding provided from the Global Health Programs account and the Economic Support Fund and from the International Organizations and Programs account in order to provide a $65 million voluntary contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
We write to you to strongly opposed to the continued attacks on womens health care. The Senate Judiciary Committees hearing, Late-Term Abortion: Protecting Babies Born Alive and Capable of Feeling Pain, represents yet another tired, wasteful, and harmful attempt to push abortion out of reach for women. Abortion has been and will always be a part of womens lives. While some members of this Committee are pursuing an anti-womens health agenda and seeking to force women back into the dark ages and alleys, the undersigned organizations reject their efforts and stand firmly in support of a womans constitutional right to safe and legal abortion.
17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None
U.S. SENATE
18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area
| First Name | Last Name | Suffix | Covered Official Position (if applicable) | New |
TONI |
Van Pelt |
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19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None
LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.
15. General issue area code HCR
16. Specific lobbying issues
The Honorable Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell
RE: Protect Womens Access to Federally Supported Health Care Dear Secretary Burwell: As organizations committed to safeguarding and improving access to health care for all women, the undersigned urge the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take affirmative steps to protect peoples access to care under federally-supported programs. We thank HHS for its sustained commitment to expanding access to affordable, high-quality health care for Americans through implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In service of this commitment, we urgently request that HHS prevent states from excluding qualified womens health providers from essential public health programs.
Dear Chairman Blunt, Ranking Member Murray, Chairman Cole, and Ranking Member DeLauro: As you develop Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies, the 61 undersigned members and associated organizations of the Family Planning Coalition respectfully request that you provide $327 million in funding for the Title X family planning program. Title X is the sole source of dedicated federal funding for family planning services for underserved populations. Strong support for the program is incredibly important given that four out of ten women who receive care at a Title X-funded health center consider it their only source of health care and six in ten women consider it their main source of care.i Moreover, more than 4.1 million women and men access life-saving health care such as birth control, cancer screenings, and testing for sexually transmitted infections through Title X health centers.
17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None
U.S. SENATE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services - Dept of (HHS)
18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area
| First Name | Last Name | Suffix | Covered Official Position (if applicable) | New |
Toni |
Van Pelt |
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19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None
LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.
15. General issue area code LBR
16. Specific lobbying issues
Re: Proposed Department of Labor (Wage and Hour Division) Rule on Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors (RIN 1235-AA13)
Dear Mr. Waterman,
We writes to express its support for the U.S. Department of Labors (DOLs) proposed rule implementing Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors (the EO or the Order). As an organization dedicated to [FILL IN], we are committed to ensuring that working families have the job and economic security that paid sick days provide and recognizing the benefits to contractors, the government, taxpayers and the economy.
Via online submission
RE: RIN 1291-AA36 - Implementation of the Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity Provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
Dear Ms. Barry-Perez:
We write to express our strong support for the Department of Labors (DOL) proposal to update the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity regulations implementing Section 188 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to align with current law and address its application to current workforce issues. This rule has the potential to increase womens, LGBT persons, and other underrepresented groups access to services, benefits, training, programs, and employment in and through the workforce development system. It also has the potential to ensure that workforce development programs help end-not reinforce-occupational gender segregation and the gender pay gap.
We urge you to co-sponsor the Workplace Action for a Growing Economy (WAGE) Act (S. 2042/H.R. 3514). Introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), this important legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by strengthening protections for working people who organize and promote change through collective action. The WAGE Act would increase protections for all working people and will help open up pathways to equal pay, increased safety in the workplace, and higher wages. The very best way to raise wages and turn the tide back in favor of working people is to protect and strengthen their right to speak out together. We applaud Senator Murray and Representative Scott for their work on this legislation, and urge you to co-sponsor it.
Re: Proposed Revision of the Employer Information Report (EEO-1), FR Docket Number 2016-01544, Docket ID EEOC-2016-0002
Dear Ms. Wilson:
ISHV supports the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions (EEOC) proposed revision of the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) to collect pay data from employers.
Collecting compensation data through the proposed revision of the EEO-1 will promote the critically important goals of identifying pay discrimination, improving enforcement of pay discrimination laws, and increasing voluntary employer compliance with those laws. Use of a modified version of an existing collection mechanism will also improve coordination between EEOC and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) of the Department of Labor, and avoid costly or burdensome duplication of efforts. We also offer some suggestions for strengthening the proposed revision to ensure achievement of these goals.
Support for The Pay Stub Transparency Act
Dear Congressman Scott:
The undersigned organizations write in enthusiastic support for H.R. 4376, The Pay Stub Transparency Act, which you introduced on January 13, 2016. As you know, wage theft is an epidemic that costs mostly low-wage workers tens of billions of dollars each year in unpaid wages. The legal tools they have at their disposal, be it thinly-resourced departments of labor or private lawsuits, are not available to far too many workers seeking to be properly paid for all of their work. The Pay Stub Transparency Act is an important weapon in the fight against wage theft.
As an organization dedicated to eliminating sex discrimination in the workplace and promoting policies that benefit women and working families, we urge you to support the Restoring Statutory Rights and Interests of the States Act of 2016 (Restoring Statutory Rights Act), introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Restoring Statutory Rights Act would restore the rights of workers to pursue their state and federal law claims and obtain remedies in court rather than forcing arbitration of their claims. For women and all workers, access to courts is critically important to pursue remedies of civil rights violations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and family and medical leave claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
The practice of forced arbitration is widespread and damaging.
The Honorable Shaun Donovan
Director OMB
We write to express our support for the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order and to urge you to release the final rule as soon as possible.
We are an organization dedicated to eradicating all forms of discrimination in the workplace and promoting good jobs for women. This executive order is the latest in a series of important steps the President has taken to bring the federal contractor community closer to achieving these goals.
Employers that have the privilege of doing business with the federal government also have a responsibility to abide by the law. This executive order is crucial to the communities we represent because it helps ensure that federal contractors behave responsibly and ethically with respect to labor standards, civil rights laws and more. The executive order will ensure that companies applying for federal contracts have every incentive to comply with federal labor and employment laws, including for example the Fair Labor Standards Act (which includes the Equal Pay Act), Title VII, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and their state law equivalents. This will lead to fairer treatment for workers in the federal contractor workforce and raise awareness among other employers about their legal obligations. The executive order will also ban compulsory arbitration of claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which is critical to ensuring that workers can have their day in court.
Re: RIN 1205-AB59-Proposed Rulemaking on Apprenticeship Programs; Equal Employment Opportunity Regulations
Dear Ms. Gagliardi:
We write to express our strong support for the U.S. Department of Labors (DOL) proposal to update the Apprenticeship Programs Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) regulations after nearly forty years. This rulemaking has the ability to significantly impact the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in apprenticeship and the future of these groups in the trades.
In the almost four decades since the EEO regulations were last updated, the representation of women in apprenticeships has remained stagnant. While women make up 47% of the workforce, they account for only 6.3% of apprentices. Persistent barriers to entry and advancement of women in these programs lead to this underrepresentation.
17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None
Labor - Dept of (DOL), U.S. SENATE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Management & Budget (OMB)
18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area
| First Name | Last Name | Suffix | Covered Official Position (if applicable) | New |
Toni |
Van Pelt |
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19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None
LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.
15. General issue area code EDU
16. Specific lobbying issues
We write to voice opposition to reauthorizing the District of Columbia private school voucher program as part of the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies1 concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures.
We submit this letter for the hearing "Expanding Educational Opportunity through School Choice to express our strong opposition to private school vouchers. Vouchers divert desperately-needed resources away from the public school system to fund the education of a few, select students, with limited, if any, real impact on student academic achievement. Instead of providing equal access to high quality education or setting high standards for accountability, voucher programs have proven ineffective, lack accountability to taxpayers, and deprive students of rights provided to public school students. Congress would better serve all children by using funds to make public schools stronger and safer than by creating a new voucher
program.
We are dedicated to the health and welfare of our nations youth, we respectfully request your support for the requests below during the fiscal year (FY) 2017 funding deliberations. As organizations committed to supporting adolescent sexual health programs-the Office of Adolescent Healths (OAH) Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Adolescent School Health (DASH)-we know firsthand the vital role these federal programs play in supporting the health of young people and communities.
Re: NCPE Opposes S. 2711, the Native American Education Opportunity Act Dear Chairman Barrasso and Vice Chairman Tester: We submit this letter for the hearing on S. 2711, the Native American Education Opportunity Act, to express our strong opposition to private school vouchers in the form of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). ESAs are effectively no different than vouchers; they place funding that would ordinarily support students attending public schools into an account for students to use on other education expenses, including private school tuition. Like vouchers, ESAs divert desperately-needed federal resources away from the primary school system students attend to fund the education of a few, select students in alternative settings. Furthermore, voucher and ESA programs lack accountability, do not improve educational outcomes of students, strip students of rights, and do real harm to the public school systems that educate the majority of students in a state or district.1 At a time when schools serving American Indian students are desperately in need of funding,2 Congress would better serve all American Indian students by using federal funds to make schools serving American Indian students stronger and safer than by allowing funds to flow to a separate voucher program.
17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U.S. SENATE
18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area
| First Name | Last Name | Suffix | Covered Official Position (if applicable) | New |
Toni |
Van Pelt |
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19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None
LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.
15. General issue area code REL
16. Specific lobbying issues
Dear Member of Congress, This weekend, the United States will celebrate Religious Freedom Day 2016, which marks the 230th anniversary of the Virginia General Assemblys adoption of the landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. This Statute, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted in part thanks to advocacy by James Madison, provided the basis for the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects several foundational rights including freedom of religion.We write as a diverse coalition of national religious, secularist and other organizations that advance religious freedom, to urge you to support the core principles emphasized within this Statute, and reflected in the First Amendment. These principles include two in particular that we deeply value.Civil rights for all, regardless of individual religious beliefs: Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry. Robust freedom of religion, belief and expression: All men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion.
Re: Docket No. FR-5781-P-01, Equal Participation of Religious Organizations in HUD Programs and Activities: Implementation of EO 13559
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The following comments to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations in HUD Programs: Implementation of E.O. 135591 are submitted by the undersigned members of the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination (CARD).
We are pleased that Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published this NPRM, which is an important step toward implementing Executive Order 13559. CARD members welcome these proposed regulations as an advancement that increases beneficiary protections and clarifies the roles and responsibilities of both the faith-based provider and the Agency when they partner to provide vital and necessary social services.
Although these proposed regulations are a vast improvement over the current ones, we believe they can be further strengthened in several areas.
17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None
U.S. SENATE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Housing & Urban Development - Dept of (HUD)
18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area
| First Name | Last Name | Suffix | Covered Official Position (if applicable) | New |
Toni |
Van Pelt |
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19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None
Information Update Page - Complete ONLY where registration information has changed.
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LOBBYIST UPDATE
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AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS
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FOREIGN ENTITIES
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