Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Former Miss California lands job as lobbyist for D.C. health care association


We've been informed that MaryAnne Sapio, previously a lobbyist for Wheat Government Relations, has joined the American Health Care Association (AHCA) as Director of Government Relations and primary AHCA lobbyist in Washington, D.C..

AHCA, according to its website, is a non-profit federation of affiliated state health organizations, together representing more than 10,000 non-profit and for-profit assisted living, nursing facility, developmentally-disabled, and subacute care providers.

TVT had previously reported that Sapio, a former Miss California 1999, had left Wheat Government Relations (WheatGR) where she had been a lobbyist for the Bay Mills Indian Community, Blue Water Resorts, Gateway Casino Resorts, Barwest, and the Shinnecock Indian Nation, (each of these clients are casino venture affiliates of Michael J. Malik and Marian Ilitch). When TVT orignially reported on Sapio's departure, the circumstances and her new employer were unknown.

It is interesting to note that Sapio, while at Wheat, was registered as a lobbyist for other clients including lobbying firms U.S. Strategies and Kessler & Associates (Century Business Services Inc.) -- Richard Kessler is the president of the non-profit Ripon Society and the fous of congressional travel controversies). These lobbying firms curiously retained WheatGR as lobbyist.

During this same time, WheatGR had retained Kessler & Associates to represent Wheat on Indian Affairs and Indian Gaming matters and paid Kessler $515,000 -- slightly more than the total WheatGR was paid by its own clients for represenation on the same matters, during the same period. It appears that fees paid by the Ilitch/Malik affiliates to WheatGR were passed through to Kessler & Associates.

Sapio also represented Koch Equipment.

Cape Cod Today speculated in 2006 that it was coal and oil billionaire Bill Koch who used a tangled web of lobbying firms (including Kessler & U.S. Strategies) to get Rep. Don Young to insert an amendment in a Coast Guard Bill that was anticipated to kill the Cape's offshore wind power industry. If true, Sapio might know something about it.

sources: center for responsive politics, opensecrets.org; and center for public integrity, lobbywatch.

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