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CREDIT LINE. William Cheney is stepping in as president and chief executive officer of the Credit Union National Association, which represents 90 percent of some 8,000 credit unions nationally. The current CEO of the California/Nevada Credit Union Leagues is replacing former Rep. Dan Mica, D-Fla., who has been president of CUNA since 1996. The Texas native has worked for credit unions since the 1980s.

FIERCE ACTION. Aleix Jarvis of Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock has been promoted to partner. Jarvis joined Fierce, a self-described Republican lobbying and consulting firm, in 2005. He spent the previous 10 years with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., serving in the final six years as legislative director and chief policy adviser. In addition, Jarvis was Graham's point man on the House and Senate Armed Services committees. He also spent time as an aide to Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C. Jarvis worked in Florida for the 2004 re-election campaign of President George W. Bush; he helped out on the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and served as director of operations for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Jarvis hails from Lewisville, N.C., and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Fierce roster includes Kirk Blalock, who served as deputy director of public liaison in the last Bush White House, and Mike Chappell, ex-deputy chief of staff to former Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss. The firm was founded by Donald Fierce, an ex-aide to former Rep. Walter Powell, R-Ohio, and former director of strategic planning and congressional affairs for the Republican National Committee.

TAG TEAM. Avalere Health, an advisory company focused on health care and public policy, has brought on two hires, Elana Leventhal Stair and Kathleen O'Connell. Leventhal Stair will join the firm as a manager and focus on issues including as long-term healthcare financing reform, including the implementation of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act. Leventhal Stair most recently worked as a policy adviser at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, dealing with public health and other issues. She is also a former healthcare aide to Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., a senior Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. O'Connell, signing on with Avalere as a senior manager, formerly worked in the OMB's Medicare branch in the agency's health division. O'Connell also was involved in developing President Obama's budget initiatives related to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

This article appears in the May 8, 2010, edition of National Journal Daily.

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