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The longest-serving member of the Vermont Senate has resigned from his post after serving for more than 40 years in the Statehouse.

Grand Isle Sen. Dick Mazza, a Democrat, submitted on Monday, citing “health� as the reason for his departure.

Mazza, 84, said his 42 years of service in Montpelier � he served briefly in the House of Representatives before joining the Senate in 1985 � has been the “privilege of a lifetime.�

“For more than 40 years, the moments spent in the Vermont [Statehouse] have been exceptionally gratifying and rewarding,� Mazza wrote. “And many of the people in it have become lifelong friends.�

Scott said that Mazza, owner of Dick Mazza’s General Store in Colchester, is known as “the Conscience of the Senate.� And he said the chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation is one of the most effective lawmakers ever to have served in Montpelier.

“It would be difficult to find a Vermonter who has been more impactful, committed or dedicated to public service over the past four decades than Sen. Dick Mazza,� Scott said.

Mazza is a longtime member of the Vermont Committee on Committees, a powerful three-person panel that determines committee assignments for the body. He’s regarded as one of the most influential powerbrokers in Vermont politics.

“There’s a popular misconception that Vermont is run out of the fifth-floor governor’s office in Montpelier, when in reality, it’s run out of the deli section of Mazza’s store,� then-Congressman .

Scott, a former Washington County senator, said he and Mazza forged a close bond when they served together on the transportation committee.

“When I was first elected to the state Senate 24 years ago, one person, Sen. Mazza, immediately took me under his wing,� Scott said. “It didn’t matter that I was a Republican and he was a Democrat. He put his faith and trust in me, as I did with him. He hasn’t left my side in the two decades since.�

VTDigger reported in February that . Mazza said in his that he is now “unable to provide the quality of service and dedication I have always given to my constituents.�

“Having dedicated representation has always been one of my top priorities, and I believe the people I serve deserve someone who can provide their full attention to this critical position,� he wrote.

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