Meghan Schmidtlein, former Legislative Director to U.S. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer, has joined the HB Strategies Federal team as a Principal in the firm’s Washington, DC office. She served on Capitol Hill for ten years as a legislative staff member to senior members of Congress and two years helping to lead federal advocacy for one of the nation’s largest and top-ranked state university systems.
Meghan is an experienced strategist in the congressional appropriations process, an expertise she developed leading Congressman Luetkemeyer’s Community Project Funding program that secured a record federal investment of $332 million for projects in his District. Among those projects was $20 million for the NextGen MURR research reactor at the University of Missouri. While Meghan managed Congressman Luetkemeyer’s legislative team, his office successfully carried out an aggressive legislative agenda, including seven pieces of legislation signed into law either as standalone bills or provisions of larger packages.
HB Strategies CEO Andy Blunt said of today’s announcement, “We have established a top-notch team in Washington, ranked among the city’s best, and adding experienced professionals like Meghan ensures we can continue delivering the results clients have come to expect from us.”
Stacy McBride, HB Strategies Executive Vice President Federal Government Affairs, added, “The appropriations process is one of the most complicated on Capitol Hill and Meghan has proven she knows what levers to pull, which buttons to push, to get it done. And that will be incredibly valuable for our clients and our ability to develop successful strategies.”
Meghan earlier served in legislative positions for U.S. Representatives Sam Graves and Pete Sessions. She also served as Assistant Director of Federal Relations for the University of Missouri System that supports more than 70,000 students across four universities. She earned a dual bachelor’s in political science and psychology from the University of Missouri.
