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House lawmakers are ‘slapping voters in the face’ with audit rule change, DiZoglio says
Lawmakers say they want to prevent politicization. She says they are ignoring the will of the voters.
In the wake of voters overwhelmingly passing Question 1 earlier this month, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s push to audit the Massachusetts Legislature is continuing to cause friction on Beacon Hill. Tensions between DiZoglio and lawmakers escalated Thursday after members of the House of Representatives approved a rule change that she said amounted to “slapping voters in the face.”
By a 135-10 vote, House lawmakers adopted a change that they say is meant to prevent the politicization of an audit. It grants DiZoglio the authority to select a private, external auditing firm to conduct an audit.
“While we await the certification of the ballot initiative, the House is taking steps today to affirm our commitment to our constituents,” Rep. Danielle Gregoire of Marlborough said during Thursday’s session. “With this proposed rules change, we seek to ensure that any audit pursuant to the passage of Question 1 will be a professional audit, not a political one.”
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Question 1, which more than 70% of voters approved of, grants DiZoglio the authority to audit the Legislature herself. The rules change technically does not change the new law itself, which has yet to go into effect. Instead, it affects an existing House rule through which the House business manager selects an outside, independent auditor to look at financial accounts annually. Now, the business manager must adopt the state auditor’s recommendation for a private firm.
Mariano, when questioned by State House News Service, said that this move has “nothing to do” with repealing any laws.
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“While Question 1 has not yet gone into effect, this proposed rule change is the first step in the House’s effort to respect the will of the voters without violating the separation of powers clause that is foundational to the Massachusetts Constitution. We look forward to a broader rules discussion early next year,” Mariano said in a statement to Boston.com Friday.
Despite the technicalities, DiZoglio is viewing the move as an attack on the will of the voters.
“The House’s actions to ignore the will of the people, who voted overwhelmingly for greater transparency and accountability through Question 1, are profoundly disheartening and absolutely unacceptable,” she said in a statement to Boston.com.
The Senate does not plan to pursue a similar change in that chamber, a spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka told SHNS.
DiZoglio, a former lawmaker who campaigned on a promise to audit the Legislature, faced significant pushback from Beacon Hill after she assumed office and tried to do just that. Eventually, she fully backed Question 1 and drew enough voters to her side with promises to increase transparency at the State House.
Last week, she re-engaged with the Legislature over the matter, telling leaders that a “performance audit” was incoming with a focus on “high-risk areas” like contracting and procurement procedures, the use of nondisclosure agreements funded by taxpayers, and other budget and spending data.
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In a series of social media posts Thursday, DiZoglio called on Mariano to “follow the law” and to work with her directly.
Calling on Healey and Campbell
DiZoglio is also calling for the increased involvement of Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, saying they can push back “against the Legislature’s attempt to dismantle Question 1’s power.”
Healey declined to take a position on Question 1 in the lead up to the election. Healey does not have veto power over legislative rules. If both the House and the Senate pass official changes to the new law, potentially amending or repealing it, Healey would have veto power. That veto, however, could be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber. Healey’s office did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.
Despite DiZoglio’s pleas to the Attorney General’s office on social media, Campbell said that DiZoglio has not reached out to her office directly to discuss the latest developments.
“I respect the will of the voters to pass Question 1 and change the law. My office has no outstanding outreach from the Auditor regarding her efforts to audit the Legislature under the new law, and we encourage her to reach out to us directly on this matter,” Campbell said in a statement to Boston.com Friday.
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Last year, Campbell concluded that the auditor’s office did not “currently have the legal authority to audit the Legislature without the Legislature’s consent.” She said at the time that, if the initiative eventually did become law, her office “may need to consider whether, and the extent to which, constitutional limitations affect how the law would apply.”
This analysis was based on the law before it was passed. Campbell now wants to see more specifics from DiZoglio’s office about what a specific audit would include before offering further analysis, SHNS reported.
Watchdogs push for audit
Notably, two watchdog groups normally on opposite sides of the political spectrum are aligning in their desire to see DiZoglio conduct her audit. The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance and Act on Mass issued joint statements Thursday urging lawmakers to accept the results of Question 1.
“We are now happy to support efforts to ensure the will of the voters are not ignored by legislative leaders who prefer to deny the results of the election and disenfranchise their own voters,” said Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
Both groups are launching campaigns to urge constituents to contact lawmakers over the matter. Mariano and Spilka are purposefully “slow-walking” adoption of Question 1 and discussing changes in closed-door meetings, they said.
“That we now must double our efforts to ensure that this widely popular change be implemented illustrates exactly why the audit is so needed: if our state leaders are willing to publicly ignore the will of the voters, what might they be doing behind closed doors?” said Act on Mass executive director Scotia Hille.
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