Patton Boggs on Tuesday notified Congress that a former senator and a top official in the Clinton administration are among its lobbyists advocating for a Fairfield, Calif.-based transportation association.
Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former Transportation Department Secretary Rodney Slater have joined seven of their Patton colleagues to lobby for the Affordable Commuting Coalition on matters concerning "competitive contracting for private transit services," according to a lobbying registration filing.
The coalition includes Coach America, Veolia Transportation Inc., First Transit Inc. and MV Transportation Inc., according to Kevin O’Neill, Patton's public policy department deputy chairman. Neither Lott, a Patton senior counsel, nor Slater, a partner at the firm, could immediately be reached for comment.
O’Neill said the companies have their eyes on the reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU, a surface transportation spending act that expired in 2009 and received short-term extensions since then. Congress currently is working on a long-term extension of the measure.
“They’re just concerned about making sure that transit does well in the reauthorization,” he said.
The four companies operate in the Washington area and several other locations across the United States. First Transit’s downtown D.C. Circulator bus service and MV Transportation’s MetroAccess, which provides transportation for seniors and people with disabilities, are among the companies' D.C. ventures.
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