Ginger Steinmetz, an ATGS affiliate, has over 35 years of lobbying experience, including nine years of association management experience. For the majority of the past 24 years, Ginger has represented clients before the General Assembly, working in a wide range of policy areas, including agriculture, county government, crime victims, education, health care, Medicaid, mental health, natural resources, public health, pharmaceuticals, state parks and transportation. She also has experience working with state budget issues.

Ginger offers a unique perspective on the legislative process, having worked for two statewide elected officials. She served as Legislative Director for Attorney General Chris Koster, lobbying his legislative and budgetary priorities before the General Assembly. Ginger also lobbied on behalf of the Governor’s office as the Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs for the late Gov. Mel Carnahan. Ginger developed the Governor’s legislative priorities and budget for the upcoming sessions and lobbied those priorities before the Missouri General Assembly.

Prior to her years in the Governor’s office, Ginger served as Legislative Liaison for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives for 10 years with many responsibilities, including lobbying, managing auxiliary associations and political action committees, and developing and directing publications. In 2011, Ginger was instrumental in forging bipartisan consensus to pass one of the most effective laws in the country involving the regulation of the dog breeding industry (after the legislature overturned the vote of the people on Proposition B), also known as the “Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.”

Ginger’s other areas of legislative emphasis include a tax check-off for contributions to nonprofit organizations, mental health services, pharmaceutical drugs, funding for tuberculosis patients and durable medical equipment, Medicaid funding for hospitals and nursing homes, and legislation strengthening citizens’ rights to participate in the initiative petition process.