Should the Massachusetts auditor have the authority to audit the Massachusetts legislature?
Question 1 on the Massachusetts 2024 election ballot is asking just that.
The state auditor’s job is to examine and evaluate not just finances of state agencies but also compliance to the law and state regulations.
Auditor Diana DiZoglio ran for that office in 2022 on a promise to audit the Massachusetts legislature, citing a need for more transparency in state government.
“We, as one of the least transparent state governments in the entire nation, should be working tirelessly to ensure that we are doing everything possible to increase access for the taxpayers we represent,” DiZoglio said in March. “It is immoral and unethical to continue to deny taxpayers and our communities access to information that they are trying to get and talk about the legalese of this matter.”
The suggestion to audit the legislature was met with opposition from legislators and constitutional scholars.
While DiZoglio has argued that existing law allows her office to audit the legislature, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell effectively shut down that idea last November.
“After a thorough review of the statutory text, pertinent Supreme Judicial Court decisions, and relevant history, we have concluded that current law does not allow an audit of the Legislature over its objection,” Campbell said in a statement at the time.
So DiZoglio collected signatures to put that idea before the voters via ballot question.
Here is the full text of the petition.
What would expanding the auditor’s power to include auditing the legislature mean?
According to an analysis by Tufts, anything that is off-limits to the executive branch would still be out of the auditor’s reach. This includes examining votes and committee assignments.
What would be open to audit are things like employee training, cybersecurity practices and purchasing.
A “yes” vote expands the limits of the auditor’s power to include auditing the legislature without legislature’s approval.
A “no” vote prevents the auditor’s office from auditing the legislature without approval.
The election is set for Nov. 5.