In the News

Fresh off the House floor managing the most recent coronavirus response bill at the Capitol, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal said Saturday that Americans will likely see yet another stimulus bill in as little as 10 days.

“We’ve already been working on it,” Neal, a Springfield Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means said following a news conference with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito at the Cartamundi manufacturing plant in East Longmeadow. “I’ve been talking about it with House Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi. We are in conversations almost hourly.”

Conversations include House and Senate leaders in both parties and the administration of President Donald J. Trump administration, he said.

The bill passed this week, a measure totaling $484 billion, is now law. Neal called that bill “version 3.5” and the next one “version 4.”

Neal said the next bill could include another round of stimulus payments to individuals and families. The first round — which included payments of $1,200 per person and $2,400 for couples filing jointly — is still going out to some people.

The federal government, he said, will also need to allocate funding for the unemployment system to keep money flowing through the economy.

Neal also predicts the new bill will include money to plug growing budget gaps for states, cities and towns across the country.

State lawmakers estimate that Massachusetts tax revenues could be $4 billion to $6 billion below estimates.

In Springfield, Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Timothy J. Plante told councilors earlier this month that the city’s financial outlook is “very bleak." He’s been told to prepare for a 14% reduction in unrestricted general government aid from the state — a loss of $5.6 million.

Democrats like Neal and Pelosi have pushed for federal aid to states, cities and towns for a while. Republicans have pushed back.

But Neal offered reassurance Saturday, saying that all the rancor in debate over these bills is not reflected in the actual voting and that each of the major pieces of legislation have had broad bipartisan support. The Senate voted unanimously on the latest bill, and there were only five no votes in the House to 388 yes votes.

He said it is not clear whether there will be more money for the Paycheck Protection Plan loans to small businesses. “We’ll have to see how it goes,” Neal said.

The law passed this week put another $320 billion into the program, with money beginning to flow Monday. The first infusion of $349 billion was exhausted in just 12 days.

Baker thanked Neal for all he is doing for the people of Massachusetts but for the nation.

Neal, D-Springfield, had toured the Caraamundi factory earlier in the week.

The plant usually makes classic products like Play-Doh and the board game Monopoly for toy giant Hasbro.

“Walking through the plant here was like looking back through my life,” Baker said. “So many games that had a place on our bookshelves and in our homes. Some many games that we’d played over the years.”

The factory has recently been converted to manufacture personal protection equipment, producing 50,000 plastic face shields per week to donate to local hospitals during the pandemic. The project is a partnership between Rhode Island-based Hasbro and global card-and-game company Cartamundi, which owns popular playing card brands like Bee as well as the East Longmeadow facility.

The former Milton Bradley Co. built the plant. Hasbro sold it to Cartamundi in 2015.

Caratamundi isn’t the only Massachusetts manufacturer to convert at least part of its operations to personal protective equipment.

Universal Plastics in Holyoke is making face shields and acrylic intubation boxes.

Smith & Wesson makes face shields both at its Springfield plant and its plastics factory in Deep River, Connecticut.

Hasbro President & COO John Frascotti said they’d like to go back to making toys.

The sprawling 1.2-million-square-foot plant only has 25 employees working to make the masks — well below the more than 500 employees who usually work at the plant. The figure includes 300 production workers but not roughly 100 temporary workers who often transition to full-time status.

Cartamundi has already taken steps to protect its work force, mandating temperature e checks for all who arrive, requiring masks having workers separate from each other physically.

The plant has also split its workforce into teams, each with its own entrance, restrooms and lunchroom. That practice will continue as a means of arresting any spread of the disease.

Neal said testing, like taking people’s temperatures and testing for the virus itself, is important.

“We are not going to establish confidence and open the marketplace if people are afraid to go to work,” he said.