State Auditor Diana DiZoglio continues her campaign to audit the Massachusetts Legislature, which she says is allowed under the state constitution.
In July, DiZoglio asked Attorney General Andrea Campbell to support her office in litigation against the House and Senate. At the time, DiZoglio did not know what would happen if the attorney general declined to back up the auditor’s office. Now, still waiting on a decision from Campbell, DiZoglio has a backup plan: a ballot question.
“We could take this issue directly to the voters and give voters an opportunity to make crystal clear the auditor has the authority to audit the state Legislature,” DiZoglio told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.
DiZoglio is working with an advocacy group on the petition. By law, they will need about 75,000 signatures by December of this year in order for the question to be eligible for the 2024 ballot.
“Please feel free to contact me personally, not my office, if you would like to get involved,” she said.
The state auditor's office has conducted legislative audits since its inception in 1849, DiZoglio said. But she said the last comprehensive legislative audit was in 1922.
“That has been due to a lack of political will to do so,” she said, “not because it is not legal and not because it is unconstitutional.”
The auditor said taxpayers are not served by this lack of accountability, especially because the public records law does not apply to the Legislature or courts. She noted that Massachusetts is the lowest ranked state for financial transparency, according to the Pioneer Institute.
“As forward thinking as we are regarding our policy initiatives and as forward thinking as Massachusetts residents are, our Legislature continues to be ranked as the least transparent and accountable. That's unacceptable,” said DiZoglio.
If the attorney general decides to support the auditor’s office in this audit, DiZoglio said, the ballot initiative will not be needed.
But if she has to depend on voters, DiZoglio said she has faith in that approach based on her conversations with people in the community who want increased government transparency and accountability.
“The thing that they bring up most to me is that they want to know what is happening. They want to have a voice,” DiZoglio said.