Richard Neal, Representative for Massachusetts's 1st Congressional District

Neal is the representative for Massachusetts’s 1^st congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Neal is next up for reelection in 2020.

He was previously the representative for Massachusetts’s 2^nd congressional district as a Democrat from 1989 to 2012.

Oversight & Investigations

The President's Tax Returns
Breaking with a decades-long precedent, Donald Trump has not publicly released his tax returns, either as a candidate in 2016 or as president in 2017 or 2018. Though not currently required by law, this information can shed light on whether a candidate or President has potential financial conflicts of interest. Neal is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee which will investigate the acquisition of the President's tax returns.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2018 Report Card for Neal.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Neal is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Neal has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Mar 21, 2019. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% Human Rights Campaign: 96% American Civil Liberties Union: 94% League of Conservation Voters: 92% NIAC Action: B The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B United States Chamber of Commerce: 34% NumbersUSA: 7% Americans for Prosperity: 5% FreedomWorks: 5% The Club for Growth: 4%

Committee Membership

Richard Neal sits on the following committees:

Chair, House Committee on Ways and Means

Enacted Legislation

Neal was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:

View All »

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Neal sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Taxation (38%) Health (27%) Labor and Employment (12%) Sports and Recreation (8%) Social Welfare (8%) Finance and Financial Sector (8%)

Recent Bills

Some of Neal’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Neal’s Vote	Vote Description
Yea	H.R. 6157: Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 Sep 26, 2018. Passed 361/61. H.R. 6157 provides $674.6 billion in total discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense for fiscal year (FY) 2019. The bill provides $606.5 billion for the Department of Defense base budget, which is an increase of $17.1 billion above FY18 levels, and $68.1 billion ...
Nay	H.R. 5682: FIRST STEP Act May 22, 2018. Passed 360/59. H.R. 5682 requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop and apply a risk and needs assessment system to identify a prisoner’s risk and assign them to appropriate evidence-based programming. Prisoners can earn incentives for participating in the programming. Prison reform initiatives have demonstrated success ...
Nay	H.R. 3971: Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017 Dec 12, 2017. Passed 294/129.
No	H.R. 2810: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 Jul 14, 2017. Passed 344/81. H.R. 2810 authorizes and prioritizes funding for the Department of Defense (DoD) and military activities and construction, and prescribes military personnel strengths for Fiscal Year 2018. The bill authorizes $613.8 billion in base funding, including a $28.5 billion increase above the President’s budget for essential ...
Yea	H.R. 1039: Probation Officer Protection Act of 2017 May 19, 2017. Passed 229/177. H.R. 1039 amends the federal criminal code to authorize a probation officer to arrest a person, without warrant, if there is probable cause to believe that person forcibly assaulted or obstructed a probation officer while performing their official duties. The bill also would direct the ...
No	H.J.Res. 43: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating ... Feb 16, 2017. Passed 230/188. Joe Biden never got the opportunity to break a single 50-50 Senate tie in eight years as vice president. Mike Pence has already broken two. One from last month has since become law: a measure allowing states to withhold federal Planned Parenthood funding. (The other ...
No	H.Res. 546: Providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 22) to authorize funds for Federal-aid ... Dec 3, 2015. Passed 384/40.
Nay	H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015 May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88. The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
Aye	H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
Nay	H.Res. 23 (113th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 152) making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September ... Jan 15, 2013. Passed 367/52.
Aye	H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117. The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant legislative change to the U.S. patent system since the ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 1989 to Mar 2019, Neal missed 1,051 of 19,132 roll call votes, which is 5.5%. This is much worse than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1989 Jan-Mar	14	1	7.1%	56^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	12	11.4%	96^th
1989 Jul-Sep	128	1	0.8%	16^th
1989 Oct-Nov	121	8	6.6%	80^th
1990 Jan-Mar	60	1	1.7%	35^th
1990 Apr-Jun	150	4	2.7%	46^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	22	12.0%	96^th
1990 Oct-Oct	143	9	6.3%	77^th
1991 Jan-Mar	62	3	4.8%	61^st
1991 Apr-Jun	139	6	4.3%	61^st
1991 Jul-Sep	81	4	4.9%	65^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	7	4.3%	74^th
1992 Jan-Mar	66	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Apr-Jun	185	9	4.9%	71^st
1992 Jul-Sep	196	11	5.6%	68^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	3	7.3%	65^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	10	5.3%	62^nd
1993 Jul-Sep	164	8	4.9%	84^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	1	0.7%	20^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	70^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	3	1.4%	37^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	6	4.2%	63^rd
1994 Oct-Nov	51	8	15.7%	94^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	26	9.3%	93^rd
1995 Apr-Jun	189	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jul-Sep	232	4	1.7%	52^nd
1995 Oct-Dec	185	7	3.8%	71^st
1996 Jan-Mar	110	13	11.8%	91^st
1996 Apr-Jun	182	3	1.6%	33^rd
1996 Jul-Sep	163	7	4.3%	72^nd
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	1	0.6%	24^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	9	3.9%	73^rd
1997 Oct-Nov	163	24	14.7%	97^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	3	3.4%	65^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	5	2.7%	53^rd
1998 Jul-Sep	199	11	5.5%	76^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	6	8.1%	90^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	5	6.5%	84^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	16	8.7%	90^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	12	5.9%	92^nd
1999 Oct-Nov	146	18	12.3%	92^nd
2000 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	55^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	13	4.7%	72^nd
2000 Jul-Sep	130	7	5.4%	81^st
2000 Oct-Dec	101	34	33.7%	95^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	3	4.0%	74^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	13	9.6%	95^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	8	5.4%	84^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	2	1.3%	36^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	4	5.1%	74^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	5	2.5%	52^nd
2002 Jul-Sep	141	13	9.2%	84^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	11	18.0%	96^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	4	4.3%	77^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	10	4.2%	74^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	1	0.5%	14^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	19	12.6%	91^st
2004 Jan-Mar	104	4	3.8%	47^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	14	6.3%	85^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	4	2.5%	39^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	12	20.7%	93^rd
2005 Jan-Mar	90	4	4.4%	66^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	17	6.2%	76^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	5	3.4%	71^st
2005 Oct-Dec	163	17	10.4%	92^nd
2006 Jan-Mar	81	2	2.5%	61^st
2006 Apr-Jun	276	6	2.2%	59^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	10	6.3%	87^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	5	18.5%	88^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	19	8.9%	96^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	17	4.3%	80^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	10	3.2%	72^nd
2007 Oct-Dec	263	23	8.7%	89^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	25	16.8%	96^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	13	4.0%	64^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	19	9.3%	88^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	16	9.2%	93^rd
2009 Apr-Jun	303	16	5.3%	81^st
2009 Jul-Sep	268	5	1.9%	54^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	18	7.3%	85^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	6	3.1%	55^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	6	2.7%	44^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	2	1.3%	36^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	10	10.1%	81^st
2011 Jan-Mar	212	7	3.3%	82^nd
2011 Apr-Jun	281	53	18.9%	99^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	7	2.8%	71^st
2011 Oct-Dec	208	3	1.4%	44^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	14	9.3%	88^th
2012 Apr-Jun	299	33	11.0%	91^st
2012 Jul-Sep	152	4	2.6%	65^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	4	7.8%	75^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	37	17.2%	97^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	7	3.5%	72^nd
2013 Oct-Dec	137	10	7.3%	85^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	6	4.1%	69^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	10	4.6%	76^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	4	2.7%	67^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	8	5.6%	81^st
2015 Apr-Jun	244	7	2.9%	74^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	7	4.0%	83^rd
2016 Jan-Mar	137	3	2.2%	43^rd
2016 Apr-Jun	204	8	3.9%	70^th
2016 Jul-Sep	232	3	1.3%	54^th
2016 Nov-Dec	48	3	6.2%	85^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	1	0.5%	24^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	7	5.1%	83^rd
2017 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	4	2.4%	56^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	5	3.9%	65^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	9	4.9%	73^rd
2018 Jul-Sep	102	14	13.7%	95^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	0	0.0%	0^th
2019 Jan-Mar	126	6	4.8%	80^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills

Rep. Richard Neal

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