In the News

Two initiatives are underway to bring more passenger train service to western Massachusetts. Officials predict it will strengthen the region’s economy by providing connections to large metro areas.     Starting in the spring of 2019, a new daily passenger train service will begin operating with stops in Springfield, Greenfield, Holyoke, and Northampton.  At… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and other House Democrats condemned the Trump administration Friday after the Justice Department announced it would not defend key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Neal, the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, joined U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, and Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, in calling the DOJ's decision "the latest -… Read more »

With federal housing support set to run out on June 30, dozens of Western Massachusetts residents displaced by the Puerto Rico hurricane took to Capitol Hill Thursday to share their stories and ask lawmakers for help.  Hurricane evacuees, who boarded bound buses early Wednesday, met with several members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation to share their stories and urge them… Read more »

Western Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal says that there’s a public relations campaign being waged against Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  Neal, a Democrat from the first House district, tells WAMC he believes Mueller’s work must remain separate from partisan attacks. “I think there’s an effort that’s being made in a concerted manner to diminish… Read more »

LENOX -- Despite recent threats to federal arts funding, Western Massachusetts cultural organizations will receive nearly $350,000 in National Endowment for the Arts grants to support theater, dance and other projects throughout the Berkshires and Springfield, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, announced Thursday. The congressman, who joined Mass Cultural Council representatives,… Read more »

Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal travelled to Shakespeare & Company in Lenox today to announce new grants for area cultural institutions. Neal, a 15-term Democrat from the 1st district, tinged his presentation on new National Endowment for the Arts grants with the bitter reality of a divided Washington. “Even though just a few months ago, the NEA was on the proposed… Read more »

With a new report suggesting that at least 4,700 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, urged the Trump administration this week to make sure federal funds sent to Puerto Rico are used to secure health care infrastructure and reach those most in need. The Springfield Democrat, who called the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health-funded… Read more »

RICHMOND — The green hills are wet and bright, the sky is gray, and the school marching band comes up the road with sounds to rally the troops, and then, to mourn them.  The parade stops. The rolling countryside goes silent. Rabbi Ivan Caine, a Richmond resident, leads a prayer. "For a society in which there will be no more need for martyrs," he implored. "How can we pray in… Read more »

With jobs across the country going unfilled due, in part, to a lack of skilled workers, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, introduced legislation this week to help low-income parents overcome employment barriers and train for in-demand jobs. The bill, which Neal, the top Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, filed in the House on Monday, calls for $1 billion in… Read more »

An opioid abuse treatment bill cosponsored by Western Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal has cleared a hurdle in the House.  Neal’s bill, cosponsored by Republican George Holding of North Carolina, is called the Medicare and Opioid Safe Treatment Act of 2018. It passed through the Ways and Means committee, where Neal is the ranking Democrat, on Thursday. “It directs… Read more »