Speaker Bio

Karyn Polito

State Representative

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Currently in her fifth term as a Massachusetts state representative, Karyn Polito has served the towns of Shrewsbury and Westborough since 2001. The assistant ranking minority member on the House Ways and Means Committee, she also serves on the joint committees on Community Development and Small Business and Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, and Labor and Workforce Development, as well as the House Committee on Rules. She has won several gubernatorial appointments, including to the Governor’s Commission on Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence and the Robert H. Goddard Council on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education.

Polito’s priorities as a legislator have included increased allocations to cash-strapped cities and towns and stronger public safety laws. In particular, she has worked to secure increases in local aid, Chapter 70 school aid, special education aid, and special education transportation aid. She has also filed legislation establishing minimum mandatory sentencing for sex offenders, cracking down on drunk drivers, closing school registration loopholes for missing children, requiring defibrillators in public schools, and strengthening the experience requirements for young drivers.

Improving the quality of life in Shrewsbury and Westborough has been a consistent focus for Polito. She has secured state funding for a number of local projects, including enhancements to the Jordan Pond Project and for Phase II of the Lake Street Recreation Area at the S.A.C. Park in Shrewsbury. She has also secured millions of state dollars for the beautification of the town center in Shrewsbury and the Route 9 Lakeway Business District, and the development of CenTech Boulevard at Route 20.

Polito’s efforts led to a noise attenuation study of the Shrewsbury portion of I-290 and the installation of sound absorbing pavement on that stretch of highway. She also worked with the legislature to establish the Water Management Act Blue Ribbon Panel, which could benefit cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth by leading to the replacement of the Department of Environmental Protection’s current “one-size fits all” water regulations with regulations that consider needs of each community. A Senior Property Tax Advisory Group she formed in 2005 issued a report with several recommendations aimed at reducing the property tax burden for seniors; most of the recommendations were adopted by the legislature.

Inspirational Leader Awards (presented at her yearly rally) and the annual Polito Charity Golf tournament, which has generated over $100,000 for Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services, the Westborough Food Pantry, and other local charities over the past five years, are among the ways Polito seeks to give back to her community. She also sponsored 2003 legislation that authorized the issuance of license plates with Red Sox and Jimmy Fund insignias. The initiative has raised nearly $2 million for the Jimmy Fund.

Her service to her constituents and the state has won Polito a number of awards, including Legislator of the Year from the Massachusetts Police Association, Guardian of Small Business from the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, the Harry S. Cutting Award from Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services, and the Woman of Distinction Award from the Tara Bean Foundation.

An attorney by profession, Polito holds a Bachelor of Science in management from Boston University and a Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law.