In the News

SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal says that with lines growing at food banks across the country an expansion of SNAP food benefits and money to pay for it will be part of the next recovery bill now taking shape in Washington.

It’s a continuation, the Springfield Democrat said, of the ongoing efforts to get money out into the economy though the hands of people and businesses that will spend it.

“An infusion of money with an emphasis on people on the lower and middle end of the income scale,” Neal, chairman of the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, told reporters and editors at The Republican and MassLive on Thursday during a Zoom meeting.

And using SNAP food benefits is a good way to move that cash into the economy because the bureaucracy is in place. It's the same reason stimulus payments went out through the IRS and Social Security because the addresses and direct deposit information for recipients was available.

"We do have the pipeline in place," he said.

Neal said the package would also include money to help state pay unemployment claims for much the same reason.

It's why he's backing expanded tax credits as well.

News came Thursday that around than 55,000 Massachusetts residents filed new claims for unemployment insurance in the week ending May 1, marking the seventh straight week the depth of the economic impact coronavirus crisis has been reflected in the labor market.

The total number of new unemployment claims filed in Massachusetts since March is 780,000, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

Neal also sounded optimistic Thursday not only about getting another recovery package passed but about securing funding for longer term recovery including infrastructure project like broadband internet, rail including east-west rail through Springfield, roads.

He’s also continuing to call for aid for cities and states whose revenue streams have been impacted by the crisis.

"So there has to be some relief for those who are what I would call the first responder stage," Neal said.

The states and cites are not in financial trouble because of mismanagement or malfeasance. They budget for revenue that would have come if not for the virus and the shutdowns ordered to slow its spread.

“One of the challenges here is that as Democrats we are one half of one third of the federal government,” Neal said. "So, I think to date we’ve done pretty well in securing our priorities.

He spoke of how he was able to hammer out the last most recent stimulus package with Trump Administration Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and of how Trump himself has backed an infrastructure plan.

Also, the Republicans are looking for liability protections that would shield hospitals and other businesses from lawsuits related to COVID-19. The plan is to shield businesses that can show they have followed best practices during the crisis.

Neal said he can see those protections being a point of negotiations as long as it helps get money in the pipeline.

He also talked of electoral politics, saying while Joe Biden’s polling numbers are headed up now, he knows that only a few swing states will decide the election.

Also, Neal reacted well to the suggestion of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick. Neal endorsed Warren in the Democratic primaries.