Therese Murray (born October 10, 1947 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

) is an American politician who served as

President of the Massachusetts Senate The president of the Massachusetts Senate is the presiding officer. Unlike the United States Congress, in which the vice president of the United States is the ''ex officio'' president of the United States Senate, in Massachusetts, the president of ...

from 2007 to 2015. Murray, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, was the first woman to lead a house of the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

. She represented the Plymouth and Barnstable district in the

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 ...

from 1993 to 2015.

Early career

Murray attended

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She has a management certification from the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus Un ...

. She was first elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1992. She chaired the Joint Committee on Human Services and Elder Affairs (1993–1999), the Joint Committee on Insurance (2000–2003), and the Senate Ways and Means Committee (2003–2007). Some of Murray's major accomplishments throughout her career include Welfare Reform in 1995; a DSS overhaul in 1997; the consolidation of child care services in 1998; Mental Health Parity legislation in 2000; the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund in 2001; proposing Smart Growth affordable housing in 2004; Chapter 70 education funding reform in 2006; and a health care cost control bill in 2008 to improve cost reporting and transparency, and promote electronic medical records and uniform billing. Throughout her career, Murray has been a driving force behind children's issues and health care reform efforts, and she helped pass landmark legislation including Children's Mental Health and the Health Care Reform Act of 2006.

Senate presidency

Murray became Senate President in 2007. She was the first women to serve as Senate President in Massachusetts. She co-authored and passed legislation in 2009 to restructure the state transportation system; oversaw a comprehensive string of reforms, including improvements in the state pension system, and our ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws; and in 2010 passed an economic development bill and small business legislation to streamline state agencies, reduce operating costs and create new opportunities for investment and growth. In 2011, Murray continued to lead the Senate's reform agenda, overseeing legislation to reorganize the Trial Court and Probation Department and establish a transparent hiring process, and authoring fundamental changes in how state government operates with legislation that updates antiquated state finance laws and implements performance measurement requirements for all agencies and programs. Murray is also looking ahead to additional health care reforms that will change the current payment model to provide better care and bring down costs. Term limits meant Murray could not serve as Senate President beyond 2015. Consequently, she considered whether to run for re-election to the Senate or run for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachuset ...

in 2014. Instead she chose to retire and was succeeded by

Vinny deMacedo Viriato Manuel Pereira de Macedo (born October 16, 1965), also popularly known as Vinny deMacedo, is a Cape Verdean American politician, and was the Massachusetts State Senator for the Plymouth and Barnstable District, which comprises the com ...

Campaign contributors

In 2008 Murray was the top Massachusetts state legislative official recipient of lobbyist donations. According to campaign finance reports, casino lobbying interests were among the largest special interest group donating to Murray in 2009.Gambling lobby spends big in Massachusetts
''Eagle Tribune'', March 10, 2010.

Personal life

Murray is a 36-year resident of Plymouth and the mother of one daughter.

References

External links