OSBA Legislative Services Director Lori Sattenspiel has been working in the Capitol since 2000 even though she says she hates testifying in front of legislators. She is retiring June 30.
Lori Sattenspiel, OSBA’s current longest serving employee, is retiring. To no one’s surprise, one of the hardest-working lobbyists in Salem isn’t really going anywhere.
“She has an almost to-a-fault work ethic,” said Emielle Nischik, OSBA interim executive director. “She has a hard time stepping away.”
Sattenspiel had planned to retire as OSBA Legislative Services director in December 2023. She decided to stay on through the 2024 Legislature in part to support Efren Zamudio, who was hired as a Legislative Services specialist in the fall.
Sattenspiel officially retires June 30, but she will continue to work for OSBA on contract.
Education lobbying intersects with a wide range of topics, as school districts must deal with issues as varied as transportation, facilities, pension and health benefits, and employment law. Sattenspiel is well-known for digging into issues and figuring out what they mean for schools.
“I’m an implementer,” Sattenspiel said. “Point me in a direction and away I go.”
With a potentially pivotal session for school funding coming in 2025, Sattenspiel is staying on to support Zamudio and Adrienne Anderson, OSBA’s newest lobbyist.
Zamudio said he appreciates the opportunity to continue working alongside Sattenspiel.
“It has been a privilege to work with someone who has done so much to shape the Oregon education system I experienced and to learn from her deep well of wisdom and institutional knowledge,” Zamudio said.
In addition to working for OSBA, Sattenspiel plans to do contract work for the Oregon Association of Education School Districts and the Oregon School Activities Association.
Sattenspiel started working in the Legislature in 2000 and started lobbying for the Oregon Community College Association in 2001. She joined OSBA in 2007. She became Legislative Services director in 2016.
She has helped implement some significant victories for Oregon schools, including creation of the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program and the Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program.
Sattenspiel holds committee seats for the OSCIM and seismic programs, which she plans to pass on to Zamudio. Both programs were created during Sattenspiel’s OSBA tenure and have been huge for schools.
OSCIM matching grants sweeten the campaign pitch for districts’ trying to pass facilities bonds. Seismic grants have provided significant funds that school districts, such as Powers, have leveraged for additional important facilities work.
Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, announced in May that it would provide $55.8 million this year in seismic project grants to 23 school districts. The program provides up to $2.5 million per project.
Carol Samuels, the public finance managing director for Piper Sandler & Co, has worked with Sattenspiel on education financial issues for more than 20 years.
“She’s smart; she’s a quick study; she’s charming and fun to be with,” she said.
Working on school business, Sattenspiel pressed the Legislative Fiscal Office to create more representative financial impact statements for bills. Sattenspiel was also key in engaging the Oregon Association of School Business Officials in examining education legislation that affects budgets.
“That has made a huge difference in the ability of the Legislature to consider legislation rationally and not just respond emotionally,” Samuels said. “It made lobbying more effective because now you have real data to substantiate claims.”
Morgan Allen worked with Sattenspiel at OSBA from 2010 to 2016 before moving to the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators, where he is the deputy executive director.
“In this business, there are not a lot of people you can always count on like Lori,” Allen said. “She is selfless. She jumps right in. She responds to texts at all hours, and she doesn’t avoid the hard jobs.”
Sattenspiel has taken a lot of jobs. She serves on the Legislature’s Statewide Educator Salary Schedules and Substitute Teachers joint task forces, which will be finishing their work in the coming months. She will be stepping down from being Oregon Department of Education Audit Committee chair and an Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council member.
David Williams, Piper Sandler & Co. senior vice president of public finance, called Sattenspiel the hardest working lobbyist he knows. Williams worked at OSBA during Sattenspiel’s early years and later worked alongside her as he lobbied for other education interests.
“It’s not always about what you know or who you know,” Williams said. “It’s about the willingness to jump in and do the work.”
To be fair, though, Sattenspiel knows just about everyone involved in Oregon education policy. That was never more on display than her work to help pass, implement and later protect the 2019 Student Success Act. The historic state investment aims to provide $1 billion annually for education.
LeeAnn Larsen, who was OSBA Board president in 2019, said Sattenspiel worked tirelessly with school board members to press legislators for the act’s passage.
“She was instrumental,” Larsen said. “She was able to get us in doors that I don’t think we could have gotten through otherwise.”
Former state Sen. Arnie Roblan, one of the act’s authors, said Sattenspiel was working just as hard on the legislative side to make sure lawmakers had access to school leaders and the information necessary to understand the legislation.
Roblan, who is now a Coos Bay School Board member, said Sattenspiel is a trusted voice in the Capitol, always well prepared and ready with answers.
“Lori is one of those people you could take to the bank if she said something,” Roblan said.
Nischik said she appreciates Sattenspiel’s desire to leave OSBA’s legislative team in a strong place by continuing to offer her invaluable historical knowledge and her understanding of the unique regional needs of OSBA members.
Sattenspiel is always advocating, said Nischik, for students, for school board members, for fellow OSBA staff members.
“She has an ability to really see people, care about them and want to take actions to make things better,” Nischik said.
Sattenspiel, for one, sees her retirement as an opportunity for OSBA.
“If you are not changing, you are going backward,” she said.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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