The Helicopter Jobs and Tourism Council, an industry-backed group fighting proposals to ban chopper tours over noise and safety concerns, has enlisted Mercury for Washington support.
The council, formerly known as Helicopter Matters, is led by two main helicopter tour companies serving the New York area - Saker and Liberty Helicopters, although the group is incorporated in Arizona. It claims the industry has a $50M impact on New York and hundreds of jobs.
Former Congressman Vin Weber leads the account at Mercury, which was hired to tackle issues related to helicopter tourism, according to its federal filing.
Senators and Congressmen from New York and New Jersey last year threw support behind a bi-state bill to ban helicopter tours.
New York's city council is mulling a bill to ban the chopper tours. The Brooklyn Heights Association tallied helicopter flights are up 600% over the past 14 years to about 60,000 per year in New York, about 80% of which are tourists.
The city has closed two heliports, most recently in 2010.
Husch Blackwell Strategies has added FleishmanHillard alum Michael Slatin as a principal in its public affairs group.
Rory Cooper, a veteran Republican operative and policy specialist, has joined Teneo’s Washington office as senior managing director in its strategy & communications practice.
Brian Fallon, who served as national press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run, is signing on next month as Vice President’s Kamala Harris’ campaign communications director.
TikTok is nothing more than a Chinese propaganda tool that poses “a grave threat to America’s national security and, in particular, impressionable children and young adults,” say two Congressmen who want the platform registered as a foreign agent.
Public Strategies Washington has added Abbie Sorrendino, a former aide to now Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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