Dean of the Senate Marc R. Pacheco Democrat - Third Bristol and Plymouth

As the body’s longest continuously-serving member, Senator Marc R. Pacheco has the honor of serving as Dean of the Massachusetts Senate.  He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1988 and to the Massachusetts Senate in 1992 by the citizens of the 1st Plymouth and Bristol District.

Senator Pacheco is the founding Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change and Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.  He has recently been appointed by the Council of State Governments as Chair of the Eastern Regional Conference’s Energy and Environment Committee, which informs the officials of 11 Northeast states, as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Eastern Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Québec.  He also serves on the National Conference of State Legislature’s Task Force on Energy Supply.

Senator Pacheco is Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy (TUE) and a member of the Joint Committee on Higher Education and the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs.  Throughout his tenure in the State Legislature, he has served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, the Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor, the Joint Committee on Federal Financial Assistance, the Joint Committee on Health Care and the Joint Committee on State Administration, and Senate President Pro Tempore in addition to numerous other committee and leadership roles.

Throughout his career, Senator Pacheco has supported initiatives to spur job creation and economic growth, to preserve the environment and support the clean energy economy, to ensure the protection of rights for veterans, women and senior citizens, increase civic engagement, and foster the creation of global economic partnerships.  He was selected by Al Gore in 2007 to become a Climate Leader to increase awareness around climate change and to encourage action to prevent its worst effects.  He has prioritized these aforementioned issues of today to build a better future for the Commonwealth.