The watchdog website opensecrets.org estimated Olver's total assets as anywhere from $483,000 to $1.27 million; for Neal, opensecrets.org estimated assets as anywhere from $68,000 to $201,000.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, left, and U.S. Rep. John Olver, D-Amherst, rightSPRINGFIELD - U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, owns stock in Hewlett-Packard Corp., Monsanto, Pfizer, Spanish communications company Telefonica SA and in Texas Instruments Inc. according to financial disclosure forms filed with the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, lists $21,928 in income he earned teaching a course in politics and journalism at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, according to his financial disclosure. It’s a class he’s taught for about a decade, says spokesman William A. Tranghese.
Neal also lists mutual funds managed by T. Rowe Price and Fidelity among his assets. They also include $19,578 in income from the city of Springfield’s municipal retirement system. (Neal served six years on the City Council and five years as mayor before his election to Congress.)
Members of Congress are only required to give a rough value of all their assets. Olver, for instance, has an AMCAP mutual fund with an estimated worth from $15,000 to $50,000. So, it can be difficult to figure out a congressman’s assets.
In 2009, the watchdog website opensecerets.org estimated Olver’s total assets as anywhere from $483,000 to $1.27 million. For Neal, opensecrets.org estimated Neal’s assets as anywhere from $68,000 to $201,000.
The current annual salary for an rank-and-file member of Congress is $174,000 per year.
Forms for all members of the U.S. House of Representatives are available online at http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial.aspx.
Olver’s future is the subject of intense speculation. Because of its slow-growing population, Massachusetts is losing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives starting with the next federal election in 2012. One proposal would be to merge Olver’s district with the one now represented by Neal.
Olver, 74, is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. House of Representatives who also served in the state Legislature and is a retired chemistry professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1992.
Olver lists that he still participates in the state employee life insurance and retirement programs, but no dollar amount is included. Olver owns also owns real estate, according to his disclosure forms. He has unimproved vacant land: two parcels in Pelham one of 45 acres and one of 27 acres, 25 acres in Berlin Township, Pa., and another 120 acres in Plainfield. He also owns a rental property in Boston.
Neal didn’t list any investment real estate.
Members were not asked to disclose their personal residences or second homes unless those properties generated rental income.