Janice S. Tatarka

Director, Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation

Governor Mitt Romney appointed Janice S. Tatarka as Director for the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation in February of 2006. The agency is responsible for consumer protection and maintaining honest competition in the marketplace.

Prior to her appointment, Tatarka served as the deputy director and chief of staff for the Department of Workforce Development. She oversaw the management of the state’s 32 One-Stop career centers and coordinated workforce training programs including the Workforce Training Fund, which administers $21 million in yearly grants to help employers train workers.

During Tatarka’s tenure at the Department of Workforce Development, the agency created the Unemployment Insurance Fraud unit to track and convict people who are illegally receiving unemployment insurance benefits. Since July 2005, this unit has returned more than $150,000 to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

From 1986 to 1997, Tatarka was the assistant secretary of administration and finance for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. As the chief financial officer for that agency, Tatarka oversaw the expenditure of more than $400 million in operating and capital funds in the state’s budget. Prior to her role at Environmental Affairs, she served in key budget roles in the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee.

A Chelsea resident, Tatarka received her law degree from Suffolk University and bachelor’s degree from Brown University.