Fix the Debt registers to lobby

By Kevin Bogardus - 01/30/13 08:50 PM ET

Washington’s most influential gang of deficit hawks is getting into the lobbying game.

The Fix the Debt coalition has registered a trio of in-house lobbyists to work with lawmakers and the administration on reducing the nation’s long-term debt, according to lobbying disclosure records.

The move to K Street is a strong signal that Fix the Debt is here to stay, after having failed last year to pressure lawmakers into forging a grand deal on the deficit.

The lobbyists working for Fix the Debt are Cynthia Brown, former chief of staff to Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.); Nathaniel Hoopes, once a legislative director for ex-Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.); and Elizabeth Wroe, a former healthy policy director and counsel for the Senate Budget Committee.

The three have been lobbying for Fix the Debt since Jan. 2 on “fixing US long term debt and deficits,” according to their lobbying registration.

Fix the Debt’s co-founders, former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and ex-Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, have pushed lawmakers and President Obama to bring down entitlement spending and reform the tax code. The two said the agreement to resolve the “fiscal cliff” was a “missed opportunity,” and argue Congress and the White House need to do more to stabilize the nation’s finances.

Simpson and Bowles were also the co-chairmen of Obama’s debt commission. From that panel, they proposed cutting $4 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years through a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes.

Their plan, however, failed to pass through the debt commission in order to receive a vote in Congress. Since the panel disbanded, the two have kept active in the fiscal debate, founding Fix the Debt to advocate for more deficit reduction.

The coalition has grown to include several high-profile politicians and chief executives, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and David Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell.

Fix the Debt says it has raised millions of dollars for its advocacy campaign. The group touted its strength this month, noting it has 23 state chapters and 120 senior business executives sitting on its CEO Fiscal Leadership Council.