Lida E. Harkins

Harkins was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to Paul and Lida McMahon. Her father worked as an executive at General Motors, while her mother worked as an executive assistant for several high-tech firms and for the Middlesex County Sheriff’s office. She attended Marian High School in Framingham, MA. She graduated from Regis College in 1966 with a degree in Education and in 1987, went on to Boston College’s Graduate Studies Program: Women in Politics and Government. Harkins was the first graduate of Boston College's Women in Politics and Government program to be elected to the Massachusetts General Court. She has lived in Needham for 35 years, and has three children and nine grandchildren.

Prior to being elected to the Legislature, Harkins served six years on the Needham School Committee and directed a collaborative vocational training program for 13 towns in the Metrowest area. She is also a former elementary school teacher.

Harkins serves in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as the Representative from the 13th Norfolk District. This district comprises the towns Needham, Dover and Medfield. Harkins was first elected in 1989, and has been the House Majority Whip since 2001.[1] Her priorities include public education, improving health care access, and generating economic development.

Harkins was appointed House Majority Whip by former Speaker of the House Thomas Finneran in 2001. Before her appointment, she served as the Assistant Majority Whip and the House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Education Arts and Humanities. Harkins has also served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, the House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Commerce and Labor, Co-Chairman of the bi-partisan Women’s Caucus and as a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, and Public Safety. She has also chaired the Special Education Study Commission created in the 1997 state budget and the Special Commission that reformed and restructured the School Building Assistance Program.

Harkins currently chairs the Needham Democratic Town Committee, as well as being a board member of the Charles River Association for Retarded Citizens.[1] She also hosts the Needham community access program, Citizen's Roll Call, a series where Massachusetts officials join her to discuss issues of the day. Previous guests this year have included Congressman Stephen F. Lynch and Representative Peter Koutoujian, the House Chair of Public Health.