In the News

On Friday, President Trump signed the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill to support the country’s COVID-19 response. The package of legislation cleared the Senate by unanimous vote and nearly unanimous in the House of Representatives. On Saturday, House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal, who represents Massachusetts’ 1st Congressional District, spoke to the press, outlining the… Read more »

(WWLP) – U.S. Representative Richard Neal hosted a conference call Saturday to discuss the massive bill passed by the House and signed by the president Friday. The bill promises payments to most Americans, funds for hospitals and first responders and relief for small businesses and large corporations. Many Americans will get checks of $1,2000. Neal also was sure to note there… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., one of the authors of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package passed and signed into law Friday, doesn’t like thinking of it as a stimulus bill. Instead, the Springfield Democrat described it during an interview with reporters Saturday as a relief and stabilization bill — a confidence boost in the face of what he now thinks of as an… Read more »

PITTSFIELD — Even $2.2 trillion may not be enough to help Americans and businesses survive economic arrest due to the coronavirus, the region's voice in Congress said Saturday. "This is an international pandemic and I think taking the necessary steps here to provide help and to provide economic support for the American family is really important," U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal,… Read more »

The Massachusetts congressional delegation on Friday urged Trump administration officials to resume processing visas for foreign-born medical school students and health care workers as hospitals brace for a surge in coronavirus patients. As part of his travel-related coronavirus restrictions, President Trump last week suspended all routine visa services around the world, a move that… Read more »

NORTHAMPTON — Nowadays, when Kurt Bahneman enters a patient’s room to start his day as a respiratory therapist at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, he said he writes his name on a mask and prays it will be enough. It is the only mask he can use all day long. “We typically change masks with every patient encounter,” he said. But these are not typical times, and amid the… Read more »

Schools are closed, but in many districts free meals are still available to children.  Celenia Cola, a 2nd-grader at Lincoln Elementary School in Springfield, came bounding down the front steps of the school Thursday at noon carrying her favorite lunch in a brown bag. "A sandwich like I always do," said Cola. "Turkey!" While the 300 students who normally attend the school in… Read more »

Springfield schools feed 30,000 children breakfast and lunch every day, but only a fraction of those students are stopping at designated sites offering meals to students while classes remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. “We have 14 sites spread out across the city and and have served about 825 families so far this week, although we expect that to increase,”… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD — Stimulus checks from the federal government meant to head off long-term financial fallout from the coronavirus epidemic should go to people who make $50,000 a year or less, U.S. Rep.Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said Wednesday. The idea, Neal said, is not just to help out the most needy. It’s also to put money into the hands of people most likely to spend it… Read more »

NORTHAMPTON — In a telephone town hall Wednesday with President and CEO Mark Keroack of Baystate Health on the novel coronavirus, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal spoke about getting financial help to Americans while Keroack, a medical doctor with an infectious disease specialty, addressed aspects of the virus itself. “As your representative in Washington I take this moment very… Read more »