Senator Thomas Rivera Schatz

The current president of the Senate of Puerto Rico is in his third term as leader of the Upper House. With a long career in public service, Rivera Schatz, Esq. has demonstrated his leadership, consolidating his political influence and his key role in the creation and approval of fundamental legislation for the economic, social, and political development of Puerto Rico. He inherited his vocation for public service from his parents, along with his integrity and commitment—moral principles that are the foundation of his actions. His academic background includes a Bachelor’s Degree Magna Cum Laude in Political Science from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and a Juris Doctor degree with honors from the same university’s School of Law. He began his professional career as a public servant in 1993, as an advisor in the Senate and the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. In 1996, he was designated a prosecutor for the Department of Justice. In 2000, he was named electoral commissioner of the New Progressive Party (PNP), and in 2004 he was named general secretary of the PNP, positions he held simultaneously until August 1, 2007, when he filed his candidacy for the Senate of Puerto Rico as a senator at large. He was elected senator at large in 2008, when his peers chose him as the fourteenth president of the Senate of Puerto Rico, a position he held until December 31, 2012. In 2013, he was re-elected as senator at large. That same year, he was elected as the first vice president of the PNP. In 2016, he ran for the Senate as a senator at large and was re-elected. Once again, his fellow senators elected him president of the Senate. Obtaining broad support from the electorate once more, on November 5, 2024, he was re-confirmed as senator at large, and the majority delegation chose him as President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is the first senator in the history of Puerto Rico to preside over the Senate on three occasions in different four-year terms. Throughout his legislative career, he has presented fundamental bills for the socio-economic development of Puerto Rico and the well-being of the Puerto Rican people, covering topics such as improving public education, reforming the health system, optimizing energy infrastructure, promoting job creation, strengthening the judicial system, promoting government transparency, expanding public safety, modernizing the electoral law, improving benefits for the working class, as well as implementing fiscal and economic policies for the benefit of the people, all through reforms that promote well-being and social equity.