Congressman Neal Talks Politics With Great Barrington Rotary

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal was in the Berkshires on Wednesday as the guest speaker at a lunch hosted by the Great Barrington and Tri-Town Rotaries. The congressman also taught a civics course at Monument Mountain Regional High School.

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal is currently focusing on income disparity by co-sponsoring bills to extend unemployment benefits and raise the minimum wage.

"Whether you are left, right or center, there has been greater income disparity. We can argue about why and there are a host of reasons. It is more complicated than it seems on face value," Neal said after a luncheon with local Rotary Clubs at Crissey Farms. "But not to miss the point, it is a very real issue for the American people."

Neal said he co-sponsored bills to extend unemployment benefits — but that was halted in the Senate — and gradually raise the minimum wage. He says with the sequestration deal last year, there is a chance to negotiate for passage of those two bills.

The rise in minimum wage is needed, he said, because American workers have not have a pay increase in years. He added that raising the minimum wage will lead to higher-paying individuals getting raises as well. He said that could be tied with other tax issues he'd like to tackle.

"The evidence is anything but clear that raising the minimum wage, which hasn't been raised in a long time, is a job killer. It's not," Neal said in answering concerns about the increased cost to businesses. "There is no evidence that there will be job reductions because those individuals work in sectors where the jobs are necessary."

Without the raise, the purchasing power of the American people has greatly decreased, he said. He also is looking for a stronger emphasis on community and state colleges and helping students with debt loads to close the income gap.

"We need to do a better job with our young people," he said.

Meanwhile, there are some 3 million waiting workers eyed to lose unemployment benefits. While some say the aid enables people to stop looking for jobs, Neal disputes the claim, saying that "you don't quit your job to get food stamps."

But there is a "stubborn" unemployment rate and Congress needs to get people back to work, he said. When the unemployment rate goes down, the pressure on social service spending is also decreased.

Neal says income inequality will be a priority of his this year.

The Democratic congressman is also pushing for tax reform. He wants to close "loopholes" in the tax code including being "critical" of tax wording that allows companies to harbor funds off-shore. There are companies that are moving funds to places like Bermuda to avoid taxation.

The county is now still in a recession, Neal said, but there are positives moving forward. He said the county's energy production has greatly increased.

"We are on the edge of energy independence," Neal said. "For America to retool, we need to take advantage of this energy independence. We need to take advantage of the community college structure, it has enormous potential."

But progress is increasingly difficult. Neal said Republicans in recent years have moved more toward the right and arguments in Congress occur over everything. It used to be a lot easier for Congress to hammer out an agreement, he said, for programs like Social Security.

In 1,000 days, there will be another presidential election, he said, so he is concerned that the gridlock may not be overcome right away as both parties prepare for midterm elections.

Other issues he sees upcoming is immigration reform, which he supports as a "path to citizenship," and relations with Iran, believing the president needs more time to reach agreements.

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.