Having someone like Richard E. Neal representing much of western Massachusetts in Congress makes sense.
The 67-year-old former Springfield mayor is seeking re-election to the 1st District seat to which he was first elected in 1988. He is the dean of the Massachusetts delegation and represents the largest district in the state, including about 13 of Hampshire County’s 20 communities.
Neal is opposed Nov. 8 by Frederick O. Mayock, an independent, and Thomas T. Simons, a member of the Libertarian Party. Neither has made a persuasive case for unseating Neal.
Neal is the fifth-ranked Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
The independent, nonpartisan website, Govtrack.us places Neal near the ideological center of the House. He calls himself a “center-left Democrat.”
That seems like a good place to get things done in a Congress that is increasingly paralyzed by polarization of the two major parties’ left and right wings. While it seems to have fallen out of favor in some camps, compromise brings results, and ultimately serves the public.
Govtrack.us gives Neal the highest ranking of all nine Massachusetts congressmen in joining bipartisan, co-sponsored bills, but relatively low marks in the number of bills he directly initiated as a sponsor or co-sponsor. Measuring the effectiveness of a congressman by the number of bills sponsored can prove a false metric. We’d rather look at the nature of the bills sponsored.
More than half of the bills Neal has filed concern taxation, Govtrack.us shows.
“My fingerprints were all over it,” Neal says of the most recent tax legislation, especially the extension of new market tax credits — federal subsidies to spur development in disadvantaged communities — as well as tax credits for research and development. We’ve seen some projects involving closed-down mill or factory buildings, or increasing health care access that need such federal assistance, and so a tax bill that might seem a dry and distant topic can bear fruit back home.
Neal also favors seeing that all eligible working families avail themselves of earned income tax credits and closing tax loopholes to return to the U.S. at least part of the $2.6 trillion in “stateless income” that’s estimated to be parked overseas. That cash could help fund improvements to highways, bridges, rail and other infrastructure projects that have been estimated at $270 billion. This kind of federal aid, if it can be made to stretch far enough, would be of great help in repairing or replacing decaying highways, bridges and rail corridors in the area.
The site also gives Neal bad marks for percentage of votes missed — 5.6 percent. That’s higher than the median 2.3 percent for all members of Congress between January 1989 and September 2016. Here’s room for improvement. Showing up to vote is a central part of a congressman’s job and a record of how he is representing the people back home.
Project VoteSmart describes Neal, based on his votes, as generally supporting pro-choice, gun-control measures, federal regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions and money to develop renewable energy, while opposing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, all sensible positions that we also support.
In September, Neal co-sponsored the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, designed to help stop deadly synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped across the border to U.S. drug traffickers. Both are blamed for overdose deaths across the country, and here.
He would strive to fix the Affordable Care Act, especially if Democrats can regain enough seats in the Senate and in the House to overcome Republican instransigence. We also think Obamacare, while helping many millions with health coverage, needs improvements if it is to live up to its pledge of providing affordable care to all.
Neal has faced criticism this year for not having more of a presence in the more rural towns of Hampshire and Franklin counties, in a district dominated by Springfield-area communities.
“I think I’ve paid attention,” said Neal, pointing out that the 1st District includes 87 cities and towns stretching from Williamstown to Dudley in Hampden, Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester counties, and that “most of this job is still in Washington.”
“You try to get to as many communities as you can, and you measure that against the schedule,” he said. “I think we’ve been pretty faithful to that principle.”
Since stories published earlier this year by the Gazette and our sister paper in Greenfield, The Recorder, laid out the low-show critique of Neal, we’ve noticed that he has made several appearances here. Perhaps it’s just coincidence, but we’d like to think it’s a portent of what we will see when — as we hope — our incumbent is re-elected Nov. 8.