Senator Collins graduated Phi Beta Kappa from St. Lawrence University in 1975 and began working for Maine Representative Bill Cohen. She remained a member of his staff when he was elected to the Senate three years later, where she was promoted to staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
In 1987, she was appointed by Maine Governor John McKernan as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. In 1992, she was appointed as Director of the Small Business Administration’s Regional Office by President George H.W. Bush. She continued her work to champion small businesses when she was named the founding Executive Director of the Center for Family Business at Husson College (now Husson University) in 1994.
As a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, my priorities include improving retirement security, increasing biomedical research for diseases like Alzheimer’s and diabetes, and combatting scams targeting seniors.
During my tenure as Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee from 2015-2021, I led 74 hearings featuring expert testimony on issues important to older Americans, helping to generate and shape at least 45 new laws authored by members of the Committee to support seniors.