photo courtesy Jen Myers

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office launched an audit of the Massachusetts State Legislature, today.

The issue was a central theme of DiZoglio’s campaign for the office in 2022. During a radio interview on Lowell radio station 980WCAP-AM early in the campaign, she pledged to conduct the audit, despite claims from political opponents and even her predecessor in office, Suzanne Bump, that the State Auditor does not have the authority to conduct such an audit.

In a subsequent Lowell radio interview after the election victory, when many were speculating the promise would be broken, she vowed to take up the fight even in the face of a potential legal challenge.

“As I committed, my office has begun an audit of the state Legislature. We hope this will increase transparency, accountability and equity in an area of state government that has been completely ignored. Historically, the Legislature has been 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,” said Auditor DiZoglio.

DiZoglio earned a reputation as a maverick while serving in the State Legislature herself, upsetting long-time incumbent Representative David Torrisi in the 2012 Democratic primary, before going on to beat her Republican opponent in November to earn a seat as the 14th Essex State Representative. She often clashed with her own party’s leadership and former Governor Charlie Baker. In 2018, she was elected to the State Senate in the 1st Essex District, before launching her campaign for Auditor in 2022.

“Taxpayers deserve more – they deserve the opportunity to weigh in on legislative, budgetary and regulatory matters that are important to them. Everyone should have equitable and transparent access to and information about all state-funded agencies, including the Legislature. Unfortunately, the Legislature has not been audited since 1922, while Massachusetts ranks as one of the least transparent and least accessible state governments in the nation,” DiZoglio stated.

“It is my hope that the Legislature welcomes the opportunity for an audit to uncover where we can, and must, do better as a state government. Our office looks forward to working with them,” added DiZoglio.

The Office of the State Auditor will communicate information with the public as soon as the audit is complete.