The directors
Led by Managing Director Ken Kies, the firm's expertise is nationally recognized;
a reflection of our success in achieving client objectives.
a reflection of our success in achieving client objectives.
Kenneth j. (Ken) Kies - Managing Director
Kenneth J. (Ken) Kies is Managing Director of the Federal Policy Group, LLC. The Federal Policy Group provides sophisticated strategic and technical tax advice on tax policy matters before the Congress, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the OECD.
Mr. Kies has delivered significant legislative and regulatory results for his clients, which include major corporations, trade associations, and coalitions of companies with common objectives. Mr. Kies has led coalition efforts to enact legislation responding to the World Trade Organization’s ruling against U.S. foreign sales corporation benefits, to avert enactment of broad “corporate tax shelter” legislation that would have an adverse impact on legitimate business transactions, and to reverse Treasury regulations targeting “hybrid” arrangements of U.S. multinational corporations, among other projects.
Prior to the acquisition of the Federal Policy Group by Clark Consulting in February 2002, Mr. Kies was Co-Managing Partner of the Washington National Tax Services office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. Kies served as the Chief of Staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation from January 1995 until January 1998. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation staff is responsible for developing and analyzing all tax legislation for the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and other committees of the Congress. It also is responsible for estimating the cost of enacting changes to tax laws, approving all IRS refunds in excess of $1 million, and performing all technical analysis of tax treaties considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The position of Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation was created by the Revenue Act of 1926. Mr. Kies was the 10th person to serve in this position.
During his tenure as Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, Mr. Kies oversaw development of major tax legislation, including the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the Small Business Job Protection Action of 1996, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
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Mr. Kies has delivered significant legislative and regulatory results for his clients, which include major corporations, trade associations, and coalitions of companies with common objectives. Mr. Kies has led coalition efforts to enact legislation responding to the World Trade Organization’s ruling against U.S. foreign sales corporation benefits, to avert enactment of broad “corporate tax shelter” legislation that would have an adverse impact on legitimate business transactions, and to reverse Treasury regulations targeting “hybrid” arrangements of U.S. multinational corporations, among other projects.
Prior to the acquisition of the Federal Policy Group by Clark Consulting in February 2002, Mr. Kies was Co-Managing Partner of the Washington National Tax Services office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. Kies served as the Chief of Staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation from January 1995 until January 1998. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation staff is responsible for developing and analyzing all tax legislation for the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and other committees of the Congress. It also is responsible for estimating the cost of enacting changes to tax laws, approving all IRS refunds in excess of $1 million, and performing all technical analysis of tax treaties considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The position of Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation was created by the Revenue Act of 1926. Mr. Kies was the 10th person to serve in this position.
During his tenure as Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, Mr. Kies oversaw development of major tax legislation, including the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, the Small Business Job Protection Action of 1996, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
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aharon j. friedman
director and senior tax counsel
Aharon J. Friedman is a Director and Senior Tax Counsel for the Federal Policy Group, LLC where he advises clients on a wide range of regulatory and legislative matters. Aharon is a leading voice on tax and pension policy issues and has written for and been quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the Boston Globe.
A veteran tax and pension hand in the Executive and Legislative Branches, Aharon has had a distinguished career in government service, most recently as Senior Adviser to the Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Dave Kautter, in the Department of the Treasury. Previously, Aharon was Senior Tax Counsel at the Committee on Ways & Means, where he served four Chairmen and Ranking Members, beginning with Rep. Jim McCrery. Aharon played a key role in the enactment of numerous pieces of legislation since 2007, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 under Chairman Kevin Brady. During his more than twelve years at the Committee, Aharon served as lead staffer on a wide variety of issues. Aharon helped design TCJA’s revamp of America’s international tax rules starting with Chairman Dave Camp’s 2011 Discussion Draft and Tax Reform Act of 2014, and Chairman Paul Ryan’s 2015 revisions. Aharon has also been a leader on pension and retirement policy, covering both the Tax Code and ERISA, across the jurisdictions of Treasury, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
A native of Brooklyn, Aharon earned a B.A. in Economics from Brooklyn College, CUNY, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and an LL.M. from New York University where he was a Graduate Editor of the Tax Law Review. Prior to Congress, Friedman was an associate at Shearman & Sterling in New York and Covington & Burling in Washington. Following law school, he clerked for Justice Tova Strasberg-Cohen on Israel’s Supreme Court in Jerusalem.
Caitlin Larocco
EXECUTIVE Assistant
Caitlin S. LaRocco joined the Federal Policy Group in 2008 after working on the Hill for former House Republican Conference Chair, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (OH-15), who was once the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress. She held various legislative and organizational positions for Congresswoman Pryce.
Caitlin also has campaign experience working as a successful fundraiser on Rep. Pryce’s record setting campaign in 2006, part of an intimate team that raised over $4.2 million dollars, and achieved victory in a very difficult political environment. Prior to that she worked for the Franklin County (OH) Republican Party. Not wanting to abandon her roots, she has repeatedly returned to Ohio to campaign for dozens of candidates, volunteering as part of the Team Ohio efforts in several campaign cycles.
Caitlin has her Bachelor of Arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in Strategic Communications with a minor in Political Science. She is an avid runner and founding member of the Children’s National Medical Center Junior Council where she continues to help fundraise for the hospital. She and her husband have a beautiful daughter and live on the Hill in Washington, DC.
Caitlin also has campaign experience working as a successful fundraiser on Rep. Pryce’s record setting campaign in 2006, part of an intimate team that raised over $4.2 million dollars, and achieved victory in a very difficult political environment. Prior to that she worked for the Franklin County (OH) Republican Party. Not wanting to abandon her roots, she has repeatedly returned to Ohio to campaign for dozens of candidates, volunteering as part of the Team Ohio efforts in several campaign cycles.
Caitlin has her Bachelor of Arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in Strategic Communications with a minor in Political Science. She is an avid runner and founding member of the Children’s National Medical Center Junior Council where she continues to help fundraise for the hospital. She and her husband have a beautiful daughter and live on the Hill in Washington, DC.
Pete Woelper
Assistant Director
Peter J. Woelper is an Assistant Director with the Federal Policy Group and has been with the Federal Policy Group since its inception in 1998 providing research, editing, and technical support services. Prior to the Federal Policy Group he worked in the Washington National Tax Service at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP since moving to Washington DC in 1994.
After graduating from Azusa Pacific University in Southern California with a Bachelors of Arts degree in English he lived in England for a year and headed the editorial staff of the publishing department for a small law school in London. He hails from the Glendora, California.
Pete has lived on Capitol Hill for the past 5 years and is an avid bicyclist and lover of the outdoors.
After graduating from Azusa Pacific University in Southern California with a Bachelors of Arts degree in English he lived in England for a year and headed the editorial staff of the publishing department for a small law school in London. He hails from the Glendora, California.
Pete has lived on Capitol Hill for the past 5 years and is an avid bicyclist and lover of the outdoors.