Diana DiZoglio Looking At Legal Options In Bid To Audit Legislature

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2023/05/09/diana-dizoglio-looking-at-legal-options-in-bid-to-audit-legislature/

By Chris Lisinski
State House News Service

The standoff between Massachusetts state auditor Diana DiZoglio and the legislative leaders who used to be her colleagues has not softened.

More than a month after top Democrats in the House and Senate signaled they do not believe DiZoglio has the authority to probe their operations, the auditor said her office is weighing all legal options to unjam the situation.

“While our audit of the Legislature is ongoing, yes, leadership is still refusing to comply,” DiZoglio told State House News Service, which asked for an update on the audit’s progress, if any, and the office’s approach to an uncooperative auditee. “So, in order to conduct this audit (to your point), in the most meaningful way, our office is currently reviewing every possible legal step we may unfortunately need to take to support the completion of our audit, as a result of their continued non-compliance.”

DiZoglio, a Democrat who clashed with higher-ups during her tenure as a state representative and then as a state senator, announced her intent to audit the House and Senate in March, just a couple of months into her first term as auditor.

She criticized the Legislature as a “closed-door operation, where committee votes have been hidden from the general public, and legislation has been voted on in the dark of night.”

House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) and Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) dug in, arguing their chambers undergo audits each fiscal year and that state statutes do not provide DiZoglio the authority to conduct her own review.

 

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