NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The annual White House Easter Egg Roll escaped the sequester’s axe with a mix of corporate donations and souvenir sales. The National Park Service, which oversees the event, have been allow to accept private donations for almost 100 years. This year Victoria Knight McDowell, CEO of Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops, chipped in $25,000 after her twins told her the event could get canceled. (Washington Post)
• A new lawsuit by Christopher Horner, who previously found that EPA officials were conducting official business through private email accounts, alleges that executives at the agency also used instant messages to avoid open-records laws.(Washington Times)
• The circus is in town and it’s lobbyists aren’t just a side show. Feld Entertainment, the company that owns Ringling Bros., spent more than $330,000 on federal lobbying last year trying to fend off attacks from animal rights groups. (Public Integrity)
• Former US Trade Representative Ron Kirk didn’t take long to swing through the revolving door. He snagged a job at the Dallas office of the law firm Gibson Dunn where he will work on “international engagements” in many markets that he had experience with during his time as USTR as well as more parochial concerns in his home state of Texas. (POLITICO)
• More than 90 million Russians could be online by the end of 2013 and the Russian government is expected to step up their regulation and censorship of the internet to match. (Tech President)
• 21 chief executives from some of America’s most powerful companies are pushing Congress for comprehensive tax reform. In a letter to the leadership of both the House and Senate committees in charge of the issue, CEOs from AT&T, FedEx, Disney, and more urged changes. (Roll Call)

RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:

• None

HAPPENING TODAY 4/2:

• Mexico’s Future: In search of a new democratic equilibrium. AU. 9:30 am – 4:45 pm. 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW Butler Board Room + Abramson Family Founders Room, SIS, Washington, DC 20016.

HAPPENING TOMORROW 4/3:

• Legislative Transparency and the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. George Mason School of Public Policy. 12:00 – 1:00 pm. George Mason University, Arlington Campus, 3301 Fairfax Drive, Founders Hall, Room 317, Arlington, VA 22201.

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