Massachusetts Senate

Massachusetts Senate
Massachusetts Senate
	2019–2020 Massachusetts legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 2, 2019
Leadership
President of the Senate	Karen Spilka (D) ; since July 26, 2018
President pro Tempore	William N. Brownsberger (D) ; since March 20, 2019
Majority Leader	Cynthia Stone Creem (D) ; since February 28, 2018
Minority Leader	Bruce Tarr (R) ; since January 5, 2011
Structure
Seats	40
Political groups	Majority Democrat (36) Minority Republican (4)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Chapter 1, Massachusetts Constitution
Salary	$62,500/year; set to increase every two years equal to the increase in the median salary of Massachusetts. Additional stipends are given to leaders of the majority and minority party.
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2018; (40 seats)
Next election	November 3, 2020; (40 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Massachusetts State House; Boston, Massachusetts
Website
	Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state. All but one of the districts are named for the counties in which they are located (the "Cape and Islands" district covers Dukes, Nantucket, and parts of Barnstable counties). Senators serve two-year terms, without term limits.[1] The Senate convenes in the Massachusetts State House, in Boston.

The current session is the 191st General Court, which convened January 2, 2019. It consists of 36 Democrats and 4 Republicans. The President of the Senate is Karen E. Spilka of Ashland. The Senate Minority Leader, from the Republican Party, is Bruce Tarr of Gloucester. The last state general election was on November 6, 2018.

Qualifactions

The following are the qualifications to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate:[2]

Be eighteen years of age
Be a registered voter in Massachusetts
Be an inhabitant of Massachusetts for five years
Be a resident of the district when elected
Receive a least 300 signatures on nomination papers

Recent party control

Democrats hold a supermajority in the Senate.

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
189th General Court	34	6	40	0

Start of 190th General Court	34	6	40	0
End of 190th General Court	31	7	38	2

Start of 191st General Court	34	6	40	0
November 29, 2019[3]		5	39	1
January 5, 2020[4]		4	38	2
May 19, 2020[5]	36	4	40	0
Latest voting share	90%	10%

Current leadership

[6]

Position	Leader	Municipality	Party
President of the Senate	Karen E. Spilka	Ashland	Democratic
Majority Leader	Cynthia Stone Creem	Newton
President Pro Tempore	William N. Brownsberger	Belmont
Senate President Emerita	Harriette L. Chandler	Worcester
Assistant Majority Leader	Joan B. Lovely	Salem
	Michael J. Barrett	Lexington
	Sal N. DiDomenico	Everett
Majority Whip	Michael F. Rush	West Roxbury
Assistant Majority Whip	Julian Cyr	Truro
Senate Ways and Means Chair	Michael J. Rodrigues	Westport
Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair	Cindy F. Friedman	Arlington
Minority Leader	Bruce E. Tarr	Gloucester	Republican
Assistant Minority Leader	Ryan C. Fattman	Sutton
Minority Whip	Patrick M. O'Connor	Weymouth
Assistant Minority Whip	Vacant
Senate Ways & Means Ranking Member	Vacant

Committees

The current standing committees of the Massachusetts Senate are as follows:

Committee	Chair	Vice Chair	Ranking Minority
Bills in the Third Reading	Sal N. DiDomenico	Harriette L. Chandler	Bruce Tarr
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets	Michael O. Moore	Nick Collins	Vacant
Ethics	Eric P. Lesser	Cynthia Stone Creem	Vacant
Global Warming and Climate Change	Marc R. Pacheco	Michael J. Barrett	Patrick O'Connor
Intergovernmental Affairs	Michael F. Rush	Sal N. DiDomenico	Dean Tran
Personnel and Administration	Cynthia Stone Creem	Joan B. Lovely	Patrick O'Connor
Post Audit and Oversight	John F. Keenan	Paul R. Feeney	Ryan C. Fattman
Redistricting	William N. Brownsberger	Adam G. Hinds	Bruce Tarr
Rules	Joan B. Lovely	Joseph A. Boncore	Ryan C. Fattman
Steering, Policy and Scheduling	Mark C. Montigny	Michael J. Rodrigues	Bruce Tarr
Ways and Means	Michael J. Rodrigues	Cindy F. Friedman	Vacant

Current districts and members

Current members of the Senate, sorted by district name:

Senator		District	Home Town/City	Assumed office
Adam G. Hinds[7]	Democratic	Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden	Pittsfield	2017
Paul Feeney	Democratic	Bristol and Norfolk	Foxborough	2017*[8]
Michael Rodrigues	Democratic	1st Bristol and Plymouth	Westport	2011
Mark Montigny	Democratic	2nd Bristol and Plymouth	New Bedford	1993
Julian Cyr[9]	Democratic	Cape and Islands	Truro	2017
Diana DiZoglio	Democratic	1st Essex	Methuen	2019
Joan Lovely	Democratic	2nd Essex	Salem	2013
Brendan Crighton	Democratic	3rd Essex	Lynn	2018*
Bruce Tarr	Republican	1st Essex and Middlesex	Gloucester	1995
Barry Finegold	Democratic	2nd Essex and Middlesex	Andover	2019
James T. Welch	Democratic	Hampden	West Springfield	2011
Eric Lesser	Democratic	1st Hampden and Hampshire	Longmeadow	2015
John Velis	Democratic	2nd Hampden and Hampshire	Westfield	2020*
Jo Comerford	Democratic	Hampshire and Franklin and Worchester	Northampton	2019
Edward J. Kennedy	Democratic	1st Middlesex	Lowell	2019
Patricia D. Jehlen	Democratic	2nd Middlesex	Somerville	2005*
Michael J. Barrett	Democratic	3rd Middlesex	Lexington	2013
Cindy Friedman	Democratic	4th Middlesex	Arlington	2017*
Jason Lewis	Democratic	5th Middlesex	Winchester	2014*
Cynthia Stone Creem	Democratic	1st Middlesex and Norfolk	Newton	1999
Karen Spilka	Democratic	2nd Middlesex and Norfolk	Ashland	2005
Sal DiDomenico	Democratic	Middlesex and Suffolk	Everett	2010*
Jamie Eldridge	Democratic	Middlesex and Worcester	Acton	2009
Becca Rausch	Democratic	Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex	Needham	2019
Walter Timilty[10]	Democratic	Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth	Milton	2017
John F. Keenan	Democratic	Norfolk and Plymouth	Quincy	2011
Mike Rush	Democratic	Norfolk and Suffolk	Boston	2011
Susan Moran	Democratic	Plymouth and Barnstable	Falmouth	2020*
Marc Pacheco	Democratic	1st Plymouth and Bristol	Taunton	1993
Michael Brady	Democratic	2nd Plymouth and Bristol	Brockton	2015*
Patrick O'Connor	Republican	Plymouth and Norfolk	Weymouth	2016*
Nick Collins	Democratic	1st Suffolk	Boston	2018*
Sonia Chang-Díaz	Democratic	2nd Suffolk	Boston	2009
Joseph Boncore	Democratic	1st Suffolk and Middlesex	Winthrop	2016*
Will Brownsberger	Democratic	2nd Suffolk and Middlesex	Belmont	2012*
Harriette L. Chandler	Democratic	1st Worcester	Worcester	2001
Michael O. Moore	Democratic	2nd Worcester	Millbury	2009
Anne Gobi	Democratic	Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex	Spencer	2015
Dean Tran	Republican	Worcester and Middlesex	Fitchburg	2017*
Ryan Fattman	Republican	Worcester and Norfolk	Webster	2015

*Originally elected in a special election

Past composition of the Senate

Composition by municipality in the 187th and 188th General Courts.

Composition by municipality in the 189th General Court and at the opening of 190th General Court.

Composition by municipality in the 190th General Court beginning on December 5, 2017.

Composition by municipality at the beginning of the 191st General Court.

References

Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Article LXXXII.
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Candidates-Guide-generic.pdf
Republican Vinny deMacedo (Plymouth and Barnstable) resigned.
Republican Donald Humason Jr. (Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Hampden and Hampshire district|2nd Hampshire and Hampden) resigned.
Democrats John Velis and Susan Moran elected to succeed Humason and deMacedo, respectively.
https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Leadership/Senate
https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/AGH0
Daniel Libon (October 17, 2017). "Feeney Beats Ventura, Shortsleeve In State Senate Race". Patch.
https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/JAC0
https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/WFT0

External links

Senate Members of the General Court official government website
Official Senate district definitions as of 2011
- 2002
- 2010, with names of senators
State Senate of Massachusetts at Project Vote Smart
Massachusetts Senate at Ballotpedia

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Article LXXXII.

[2] ttps://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Candidates-Guide-generic.pdf

[3] Republican Vinny deMacedo (Plymouth and Barnstable) resigned.

[4] Republican Donald Humason Jr. (Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Hampden and Hampshire district|2nd Hampshire and Hampden) resigned.

[5] Democrats John Velis and Susan Moran elected to succeed Humason and deMacedo, respectively.

[6] ttps://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Leadership/Senate

[7] ttps://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/AGH0

[8] Daniel Libon (October 17, 2017). "Feeney Beats Ventura, Shortsleeve In State Senate Race". Patch.

[9] ttps://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/JAC0

[10] ttps://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/WFT0

Members of the Massachusetts Senate
191st General Court (2019–present) President of the Senate: Karen Spilka (D) President pro Tempore: Will Brownsberger (D) Majority Leader: Cynthia Stone Creem (D) Minority Leader: Bruce Tarr (R)
Adam G. Hinds (D, Berk., Hpsh., Frnk., Hpdn.) Paul Feeney (D, Bris., Norf.) Michael Rodrigues (D, 1st Bris., Plym.) Mark Montigny (D, 2nd Bris., Plym.) Julian Cyr (D, Cape., Isl.) Diana DiZoglio (D, 1st Ess.) Joan Lovely (D, 2nd Ess.) Brendan Crighton (D, 3rd Ess.) Bruce Tarr (R, 1st Ess., Mid.) Barry Finegold (D, 2nd Ess., Mid.) James T. Welch (D, Hpdn.) Eric Lesser (D, 1st Hpdn., Hpsh.) John Velis (D, 2nd Hpdn., Hpsh.) Jo Comerford (D, Hpsh., Frnk., Wor.) Edward J. Kennedy (D, 1st Mid.) Patricia D. Jehlen (D, 2nd Mid.) Michael J. Barrett (D, 3rd Mid.) Cindy Friedman (D, 4th Mid.) Jason Lewis (D, 5th Mid.) Cynthia Stone Creem (D, 1st Mid., Norf.) Karen Spilka (D, 2nd Mid., Norf.) Sal DiDomenico (D, Mid., Suff.) Jamie Eldridge (D, Mid., Wor.) Becca Rausch (D, Norf., Bris., Mid.) Walter Timilty (D, Norf., Bris., Plym.) John F. Keenan (D, Norf., Plym.) Mike Rush (D, Norf., Suff.) Susan Moran (D, Plym., Barn.) Marc Pacheco (D, 1st Plym., Bris.) Michael Brady (D, 2nd Plym., Bris.) Patrick O'Connor (R, Plym., Norf.) Nick Collins (D, 1st Suff.) Sonia Chang-Díaz (D, 2nd Suff.) Joseph Boncore (D, 1st Suff., Mid.) Will Brownsberger (D, 2nd Suff., Mid.) Harriette L. Chandler (D, 1st Wor.) Michael O. Moore (D, 2nd Wor.) Anne Gobi (D, Wor., Hpdn., Hpsh., Midd.) Dean Tran (R, Wor., Mid.) Ryan Fattman (R, Wor., Norf.)
Democratic (36) Republican (4) List of Massachusetts Senate delegations Massachusetts General Court Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts Senate

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Government of Massachusetts
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Law	Constitution General Laws Code of Massachusetts Regulations Abortion Alcohol Cannabis Capital punishment Crime Elder law Gaming Gun laws LGBT rights Taxation