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from: Multichannel News

Ex-Stevens Aide Reports Cable Money
By Ted Hearn 8/23/2006

Mitch Rose, a former aide to Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), earned $270,000 from the cable industry in the first half of 2006, largely to influence a major telecommunications bill drafted by Stevens, according to congressional records.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Comcast and Time Warner Cable each paid Rose $90,000 for help with the Stevens bill (S. 2686), which is partly intended to expedite cable-TV-market entry by AT&T and Verizon Communications.

Rose -- who has an almost father-son relationship with Stevens -- started his solo lobbying career in early 2006 after leaving Disney’s Washington, D.C., office. Both the NCTA and the National Association of Broadcasters passed on hiring Rose as president and CEO.

In the first six months of 2006, Rose earned $540,000 from his new lobbying clients, or slightly more than $1 million on an annualized basis, according to lobbying disclosures he filed with the House Aug. 10.

In addition to cable, Rose reported earning $80,000 each from the Motion Picture Association of America and Sprint Nextel. The Recording Industry Association of America paid Rose $30,000 for assistance on music-piracy provisions in the Stevens bill.

Away from telecommunications, Rose is lobbying for the National Business Aviation Association, taking in $80,000 so far in 2006. The Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over commercial and private aviation policy.

Rose reported earning less than $10,000 from the Alaska Housing Finance Corp.