1979–1980 Massachusetts legislature

171st
Massachusetts General Court
171st; Massachusetts General Court
Overview
Legislative body	General Court
Term	January 3, 1979 – July 5, 1980
Senate
Members	40
President	William Bulger
Majority Leader	Daniel J. Foley
Majority Whip	Mary L. Fonseca
Minority Leader	John Francis Parker
Minority Whip	David H. Locke
Party control	Democrat
House
Members	160
Speaker	Thomas W. McGee
Majority Leader	George Keverian
Majority Whip	John E. Murphy, Jr.
Minority Leader	William G. Robinson
Minority Whip	Iris Holland
Party control	Democrat

William Bulger, Senate president.

Thomas McGee, House speaker.

Leaders of the Massachusetts General Court, 1979-1980.

The 171st Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1979 and 1980 during the governorship of Edward J. King. William Bulger served as president of the Senate and Thomas W. McGee served as speaker of the House.^[4] In 1980, the General Court voted to establish the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education with the authority to consolidate resources for public higher education in the state.^[5]

Senators[]

name ^[4]	date of birth ^[6]	district ^[6]
Carol Amick		5th Middlesex
Chester G. Atkins	April 14, 1948
John F. Aylmer	January 27, 1934
Jack Backman	April 26, 1922
Louis Peter Bertonazzi	October 9, 1933
Walter J. Boverini	June 5, 1925
John A. Brennan Jr.	September 19, 1945
Anna Buckley	1924
Robert C. Buell	April 23, 1931
William Bulger	February 2, 1934
John P. Burke	December 2, 1954
Edward L. Burke	1942
Gerard D'Amico	July 27, 1947
Francis D. Doris	1931
Jack Fitzpatrick (businessman)	April 5, 1923
Daniel J. Foley	April 6, 1921
Mary L. Fonseca	March 30, 1915
Robert A. Hall	April 15, 1946
Paul D. Harold	September 5, 1948
Robert M. Hunt	January 4, 1936
John G. King (politician)	November 30, 1942
Arthur Joseph Lewis, Jr.	September 3, 1934
David H. Locke	August 4, 1927
Michael LoPresti Jr.	April 30, 1947
Francis X. McCann	September 2, 1912
Robert E. McCarthy	January 12, 1940
Denis L. Mckenna	August 14, 1922
Allan R. McKinnon	June 2, 1930
John Olver	September 3, 1936
Bill Owens (Massachusetts politician)	July 6, 1937
John Francis Parker	May 29, 1907
Sharon Pollard	September 21, 1950
Samuel Rotondi	April 22, 1946
Philip L. Shea	October 19, 1941
Alan Sisitsky	June 4, 1942
Joseph F. Timilty (state senator)	October 3, 1938
B. Joseph Tully	January 4, 1927
William X. Wall	July 1, 1904
Joseph B. Walsh	November 15, 1923
Robert D. Wetmore	July 24, 1930
Stanley John Zarod	April 11, 1924

Representatives[]

name ^[4]	date of birth ^[6]	district ^[6]
Antone S. Aguiar Jr.	January 2, 1930	4th Bristol
Theodore J. Aleixo Jr.	August 23, 1942
Lawrence R. Alexander	1950
Alfred Almeida	October 5, 1931
Robert B. Ambler	1927
Peter George Asiaf	August 15, 1905
Michael J. Barrett	June 27, 1948
Timothy A. Bassett	December 16, 1947
William D. Benson	1948
Francis Bevilacqua	August 12, 1923
Walter Bickford	February 16, 1942
Belden Bly	September 29, 1914
Robert Joseph Bohigian	July 24, 1922
Royal L. Bolling Jr.	May 1, 1944
George Bourque	1913
Thomas Brownell	March 25, 1940
Charles J. Buffone	1919
Nicholas J. Buglione	1932
Doris Bunte	July 2, 1933
John Businger	February 5, 1945
Jeremiah F. Cahir	December 4, 1924
Howard C. Cahoon, Jr	December 31, 1944
Andrew Card	May 10, 1947
William A. Carey	January 28, 1920
Angelo R. Cataldo	November 12, 1917
Paul Cellucci	April 24, 1948
Robert A. Cerasoli	July 12, 1947
Rudy Chmura	March 21, 1932
Salvatore Ciccarelli	February 16, 1941
Salvatore Cimino	October 27, 1933
Forrester Clark	November 30, 1934
Deborah R. Cochran	September 18, 1939
David B. Cohen (mayor)	September 2, 1947
Gerald M. Cohen	February 22, 1934
Lincoln P. Cole, Jr.	September 18, 1918
James G. Collins	August 2, 1946
Edward W. Connelly	August 2, 1919
Leo R. Corazzini	February 17, 1930
Robert Correia	January 3, 1939
Nicholas Costello	1935
James J. Craven, Jr.	March 24, 1919
Michael Creedon	November 3, 1946
John F. Cusack	October 5, 1937
Charles Decas	October 5, 1937
Walter DeFilippi	October 3, 1926
Richard H. Demers	January 19, 1928
A. Joseph DeNucci	August 30, 1939
Salvatore DiMasi	August 11, 1945
Charles Robert Doyle	September 24, 1925
John R. Driscoll	May 9, 1924
Dennis J. Duffin	November 24, 1930
Richard J. Dwinell	August 5, 1917
Thomas Francis Fallon	December 4, 1929
Michael Paul Feeney	March 26, 1907
John J. Finnegan	July 21, 1938
Thomas Finneran	January 2, 1950
Kevin W. Fitzgerald	1950
Charles Flaherty (politician)	October 13, 1938
Michael F. Flaherty Sr.	September 6, 1936
Peter Y. Flynn	1940
William J. Flynn, Jr.	1933
Barney Frank	March 31, 1940
Bruce N. Freeman	March 4, 1921
William F. Galvin	September 17, 1950
Ann Gannett	November 7, 1916
Mary Jane Gibson	February 7, 1933
Robert W. Gillette	September 1, 1934
Roger R. Goyette	January 22, 1925
Saundra Graham	September 5, 1941
Barbara Gray	October 11, 1926
John Gray	January 12, 1956
Haden Greenhalgh	January 16, 1931
Henry Grenier	December 9, 1924
James T. Harrington	June 9, 1949
Jonathan Healy	October 10, 1945
Joseph N. Hermann	June 8, 1924
Iris Holland	September 30, 1920
Marie Elizabeth Howe	June 13, 1939
Philip W. Johnston	July 21, 1944
Raymond A. Jordan Jr.	May 5, 1943
Stephen Karol	1948
Bill Keating (politician)	September 6, 1952
George Keverian	June 3, 1931
Arthur M. Khoury	February 5, 1940
Mel King	October 20, 1928
Raymond M. LaFontaine	May 18, 1927
Nickolas Lambros	January 9, 1933
Robert F. Larkin, Jr.	May 29, 1955
Denis Lawrence	1940
Mark E. Lawton	July 26, 1949
Edward LeLacheur	June 1, 1925
Leon Lombardi	April 16, 1949
Michael J. Lombardi	May 27, 1917
John J. Long	December 10, 1927
John Loring	1926
Thomas R. Lussier	April 5, 1957
Thomas K. Lynch	April 30, 1946
William Q. MacLean Jr.	November 4, 1934
M. Joseph Manning	September 23, 1924
Donald J. Manning	June 23, 1929
Angelo Marotta	October 16, 1937
Frank J. Matrango	July 19, 1926
Thomas W. McGee	May 24, 1924
Michael J. McGlynn	April 23, 1953
Arthur James McKenna	October 29, 1914
Charles F. McNally	April 3, 1929
John C. McNeil	June 8, 1945
Robert D. McNeil	December 16, 1930
John F. Melia	June 5, 1915
Joan Menard	September 6, 1935
Elizabeth Metayer	August 12, 1911
Jim Miceli	March 25, 1935
Alfred A. Minahan, Jr.	September 14, 1953
David J. Mofenson	February 7, 1943
F. John Monahan	July 3, 1943
Richard T. Moore	August 7, 1943
Michael W. Morrissey	August 2, 1954
William D. Mullins	August 13, 1931
John E. Murphy, Jr.	April 3, 1943
Mary Jeanette Murray	December 24, 1924
William P. Nagle Jr.	June 10, 1951
Andrew Natsios	September 22, 1949
Joseph M. Navin	May 19, 1946
David Robert Nelson
Lou Nickinello	September 8, 1940
Thomas C. Norton	December 11, 1934
Nicholas Paleologos	March 9, 1953
Raymond S. Peck	December 10, 1922
John B. Perry	February 15, 1935
Angelo Picucci	April 12, 1915
Steven Pierce	October 10, 1949
Vincent J. Piro	1931
Kevin Poirier	July 7, 1940
Daniel F. Pokaski	June 26, 1949
Michael J. Rea, Jr	July 23, 1940
Richard P. Roche	February 15, 1952
Andrew J. Rogers, Jr	May 6, 1944
Robert J. Rohan	August 15, 1921
J. Michael Ruane	December 10, 1927
Alfred E. Saggese Jr.	November 21, 1946
Sherman Saltmarsh	April 27, 1929
Joseph Scelsi	June 4, 1915
Anthony M. Scibelli	October 16, 1911
Joseph J. Semensi	March 6, 1923
Emanuel Serra	June 12, 1945
Philip L. Shea	October 19, 1941
Richard R. Silva	March 13, 1922
Theodore C. Speliotis	August 20, 1953
Gregory W. Sullivan	January 29, 1952
Royall H. Switzler	September 27, 1938
Robert A. Vigneau	November 4, 1920
Richard Voke	December 2, 1947
Richard L. Walsh	July 26, 1948
Bruce E. Wetherbee	September 1, 1950
W. Paul White	July 7, 1945
Thomas P. White	August 27, 1950
A. James Whitney	April 15, 1943
Francis H. Woodward	March 17, 1939

References[]

^ "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Composition of the Massachusetts State Senate", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Composition of the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c 1979-1980 Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston.
^ Feldberg, Michael (2015). UMass Boston at 50: A Fiftieth-Anniversary History of the University of Massachusetts Boston. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1625341693.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Departments of the Government of Massachusetts, 1979" (PDF), Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – via State Library of Massachusetts

External links[]

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Elections Division. "1978 State Senate General Election". Sec.state.ma.us.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Elections Division. "1978 State Representative General Election". Sec.state.ma.us.
Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1979, hdl:2452/335752 – via State Library of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1979, hdl:2452/3383
Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1980, hdl:2452/335753
Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1980, hdl:2452/3384
Reports of the Legislative Research Council, Commonwealth of Massachusetts – via New England School of Law (1964-1994)

[1] "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.

[CompSenate-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Composition of the Massachusetts State Senate", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020

[CompHouse-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Composition of the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020

[Officers-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c 1979-1980 Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston.

[5] Feldberg, Michael (2015). UMass Boston at 50: A Fiftieth-Anniversary History of the University of Massachusetts Boston. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1625341693.

[Register-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Departments of the Government of Massachusetts, 1979" (PDF), Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – via State Library of Massachusetts

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show v t Government of Massachusetts
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Independent agencies	Board of Library Commissioners Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board
Law	Constitution General Laws Code of Massachusetts Regulations Abortion Alcohol Cannabis Capital punishment Crime Elder law Gambling Gun laws LGBT rights Taxation

1979–1980 Massachusetts legislature

Contents

Senators[]

Representatives[]

See also[]

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]