DiZoglio May Have a New Strategy to Force Massachusetts Audit

Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is persistent. She tried to get the state legislative leadership to allow her to audit their books, and when they refused, she rallied for a statewide ballot question to force the issue.

Voter-Backed Audit Mandate

On November 5, 2024, over two million Massachusetts voters approved Question 1, giving DiZoglio the authority to audit the Legislature. Reports have indicated it was a 72 percent vote in favor of the audit, but Secretary of State Bill Galvin's office reports it was only 66 percent.

Either way, it was a mandate in favor of an audit.

Legislature Resistance to Transparency

To this day, State Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Rob Mariano, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and Governor Maura Healey refuse to acknowledge the people's veto. The refusal has not impacted the Legislature's approval rating, according to a new poll.

DiZoglio doesn't give up easily. In fact, she may have another ace up her sleeve.

DiZoglio’s Next Moves

CommonWealth Beacon reported, "Auditor Diana DiZoglio has a new idea for how to overcome the constitutional arguments that have stalled her voter-backed probe of the House and Senate: Go back to the ballot again and ask to make legislative records open to the entire public."

"The documents that I have requested for the audit are matters of public record in every other entity that actually follows the public records law," DiZoglio told CommonWealth Beacon.

"If [lawmakers] don't want to give the documents to me, I'm just going to work to make sure those documents are given to you all directly, and will take out their bogus constitutional limitations," she told the publication.

The Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts and Michigan are the only two states where both the Legislature and the governor's office claim not to be subject to public records laws.