With Trump meeting today, Richard Neal of Mass. enters tax overhaul fray

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, center, talks with State Rep. Sean Garballey, D-Arlington, left, and State Rep. John D. Keennan, D-Salem, right, before a public hearing held by the legislative redistricting committee in Springfield, Mass., Saturday, March 26, 2011. The latest census figures were released, causing speculation that western Massachusetts could possibly get squeezed in redistricting because of the population losses. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) / OUTTAKe 0329 — Representative Richard Neal. –Jessica Hill / Associated Press

By

The Boston Globe

February 2, 2017

He’s known as the insider’s insider, a veteran relationship-builder on Capitol Hill, a quiet dealmaker.

Now the low-key, pragmatic Massachusetts lawmaker, Representative Richard Neal, is facing a challenge that could win him a new title: Miracle-worker.

By virtue of 30 years seniority in the House and the respect he has won among colleagues, the low-key Springfield congressman is the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee just as Republicans are readying a push for major tax cuts and a reform of the byzantine US tax code.

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