JOBS & THE ECONOMY 

One of Richie’s highest priorities is making sure that everyone who wants a job can find one. He knows that middle-class families are the engine that powers America’s economy, and he will never stop fighting to grow and protect the middle class. In his view, everybody should get a fair shot at opportunity, and everybody should be rewarded fairly for hard work. 

He is focused tirelessly on those core goals, in good times and bad. Back in the first two months of the pandemic, 22 million people lost their jobs overnight through no fault of their own, and the unemployment rate shot up from a fifty-year low to the highest point since the Great Depression. 

As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee during 2020 and 2021, Richie led Democratic and bipartisan efforts to swiftly meet the needs of workers, employers, and communities as they struggled to survive the unprecedented economic shocks. These emergency relief measures included:

  • stimulus checks to help low- and middle-income taxpayers;

  • a more generous Child Tax Credit available to more parents;

  • higher unemployment benefits available for longer durations, expanded for the first time to serve gig workers and the self-employed; and

  • the Paycheck Protection Program, which helped small businesses keep their employees on the payroll.

Once President Biden took office, Richie worked closely with him to pass the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act, spurring investments and sending the job market roaring back to life.

These measures have been enormous successes: our current economic recovery has been the strongest and most broadly-shared of our lifetimes, far outpacing every other major country’s. We’ve won back every lost job plus another 2.5 million. Unemployment has been below 4 percent for nearly two years—the longest stretch in more than fifty years. Almost 16 million new business applications have been registered since the beginning of the Biden Administration. Wages are rising, more people are streaming back into the workforce, and inflation is cooling.

This recovery was never guaranteed—it was the result of the bold leadership of President Biden and his allies in Congress like Richie, who were determined to put workers and families first, usually over Republican objections. 

But there’s more work to do. Big corporations are hiking prices and raking in record profits, but too many families in our district are struggling to afford necessities like housing, healthcare, groceries, and gas. Richie is leading the charge supporting middle-class tax cuts and an expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. He is also a champion of tax incentives for affordable housing.

Now it’s time to plan for the future. Our economy is changing fast. Artificial intelligence, automation, globalization, and the transition to clean energy are reshaping the job markets in our district and all over the world. Adapting to these changes may not be easy, but if we do it right, with smart, forward-looking policies, Richie knows we can once again open up tremendous opportunities for MA-01 workers, families, and employers. 

Higher Education and Training.

The best way to help families prosper is to make sure that every American who’s looking for work can find a quality job. As jobs increasingly demand more advanced skills, it’s never been so important to invest in our people and their education and training. We cannot afford to waste talent. Putting higher education and quality workforce training within reach of everyone will lift our entire economy.

  • Higher education should be affordable and accessible for everyone who wants to pursue it. Students and their families shouldn’t have to mortgage their futures to pay tuition. Richie supports expanding and increasing the American Opportunity Tax Credit and other tax incentives that provide aid to students, their families, and those repaying student loans. 

  • Workforce training is critical to the economy of the future. Two-thirds of U.S. adults don’t hold a college degree—they aren’t the right path for everyone, and our evolving economy needs growing numbers of workers with technical skills, from the electricians bringing to life the green energy future to the skilled caregivers who tend to our sick and elderly. Registered apprenticeship programs, certificate programs, on-the-job training, technical schools, and other workforce development programs can help usher workers into well-rewarded and secure careers and help employers meet their human resource needs. Richie consistently seeks out ways to support community colleges, skills training, registered apprenticeship programs, and other workforce development initiatives. 

  • In 2022, Richie received the National Education Service Award, which goes to “a national leader who makes massive contributions to national policies and resources that support education, training and higher education.”

  • Time and again, Richie has delivered federal support for our district’s education and workforce systems.

    • He secured almost $2 million in grants to help UMass provide computer science support to Springfield elementary school students.

    • He delivered $1 million to Springfield Technical Community College to promote science and engineering in local schools.

    • He secured $1 million for the Springfield Innovation Center.

    • He delivered $1 million to Elms College to expand its education and social work programs.

    • He delivered $1 million to Bay Path University to support a Student Success Center.

    • He secured $1 million to help expand the nursing and health sciences programs at Westfield State University.

 
 

Organized Labor.

Strong labor unions are one of the best ways to protect workers and ensure fair wages. Richie is proud to be labor-endorsed and will always fight for the right to organize. The AFL-CIO scored Richie’s 2023 voting record at 100%, with a lifetime score of 98%.

“As a proud lifetime member of the UFCW Local 1459, I am unwavering in my support for my brothers and sisters in organized labor. Union jobs with good wages and benefits built the middle class. If we are to level the playing field for working families, organized labor has to be part of the solution.” - Rep. Richie Neal

 
 

Pensions.

Richie worked for years to pass the Butch Lewis Act, reforming the multiemployer pension system to protect the retirement security of more than 1 million union members and retirees.

Read more about Richie’s work on improving retirement security for all.

“What we did, what Richie Neal did, what we all did, they said it couldn’t be done. But this wouldn’t have happened if Richie Neal hadn’t stayed on it.” — Teamsters General President

Clean Energy Apprenticeships.

One of Richie’s most important accomplishments has been developing and passing the green energy provisions adopted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which are the most significant climate investments in our nation’s history. Bringing those investments in clean energy to life will require millions of skilled workers. Richie set up prevailing wage requirements and significant incentives for these projects to use registered apprenticeships to make sure that green jobs are good jobs.

The Infrastructure Law.

  • Richie fought for passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which so far has granted western Massachusetts more than 70 federal awards totaling over $200 million. Already, two dozen cities and towns are seeing much-needed upgrades and repairs to roads, bridges, rail projects and other initiatives.

  • Both freight and passenger rail activity are improving in western and central Massachusetts, helped by Richie’s commitment to redevelopment of Springfield’s Union Station and Worcester’s Union Station. Soon, our area’s rail connections will benefit from the $108 million grant Richie and Governor Healey announced last September.

  • The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority won a $54 million Federal Transit Authority grant under this law to support low-emission and no-emission bus programs.

Investment Tax Credits.

Richie has also worked hard to foster local economic growth through tax credits that boost job creation and investment. He has delivered more than $60 million in New Markets Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits for projects around the district, including:

  • $3.1 million for Ludlow Mills

  • $6 million for Eagle Mill in Lee

  • $5.5 million for Holyoke Health Center

  • $11 million for Bostwick Gardens in Great Barrington

  • $14.5 million for the Holyoke Public Library

  • $1.1 million for the Maple Street House in Springfield

  • $20 million for the Paramount Theater and Massasoit House Hotel project