In the News

PITTSFIELD — A week ago, hundreds of city high school students walked out of Pittsfield and Taconic high schools in solidarity with a mounting national movement in response to the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Some held signs, some wrote to Congress, collectively calling for reviews of background check… Read more »

It has been nearly three weeks since the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School claimed the lives of 17 people. Last week, about 200 Pittsfield and Taconic High School students walked out in protest of gun violence. Now, they are being applauded by a congressman. Congressman Richard Neal met with students of Pittsfield High School and Taconic High School to acknowledge and… Read more »

Top Republicans and Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee are requesting information from critical stakeholders on how to prevent and treat opioid addiction in Medicare, as the panel seeks to craft bipartisan legislation to curb the opioid epidemic. Specifically, they’re asking insurers, benefit managers, providers and prescribers to submit information on how the Medicare… Read more »

House leaders on Friday announced their members of new joint House–Senate committees on budget and appropriations process reform and the solvency of multi-employer pension plans. The new panels were established as part of the bipartisan budget deal that Congress passed earlier this month. They are tasked with holding hearings and voting on recommendations by Nov. 30. House… Read more »

US President Donald Trump has been asked to honour his commitment to appoint a special envoy to Northern Ireland. The Friends of Ireland group in the US Congress say the collapse of the latest round of talks make it an appropriate time for America to re-engage. Last year, the president made assurances the job would not be axed. Congressman Richard Neal said this "critical time" was an… Read more »

In a Feb. 21 letter to Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) has requested that the IRS reevaluate the new Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) user fees announced earlier this year. Neal is the Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Committee. In Revenue Procedure 2018-4, issued on Jan. 2, the IRS changed the methodology it uses in… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, criticized the Trump administration this week for proposing a rule that would allow Americans to buy short-term health insurance plans beyond the current three month limit -- a policy which he and other Democrats argued would undercut parts of the Affordable Care Act.  Neal, the House Ways and Means Committee's ranking member, joined U.S. Reps.… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, urged congressional leaders Thursday to take action to strengthen federal background checks on gun purchases -- a move which he argued would help prevent future mass shootings, like the one that killed 17 people at a Florida high school Wednesday. Pointing to the 18 shootings in schools that -- according to nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety -- have… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - President Donald Trump announced his plans for a 2019 budget Monday morning. The announcement included a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan to rebuild roads and highways. The President met with governors as well as several state and local officials at the White House on Monday to discuss the plan. The administration's 55-page plan said it will use… Read more »

NORTHAMPTON — Monday’s release of the White House’s budget proposal was met with stinging criticism from elected officials in the Pioneer Valley. President Trump’s $4.4 trillion budget, announced after a recent $1.5 trillion tax cut that slashed corporate rates, cuts social welfare programs by $200 billion while increasing spending on infrastructure initiatives… Read more »