By Adam Swift
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio brought her message on the need for an audit of the state legislature to the people last week at the Point Shirley Association Hall.
DiZoglio was the guest of Diana Viens and the Winthrop For the People, By the People group on Tuesday, April 8.
Much of the focus was on DiZoglio’s efforts to get the legislature to comply with an audit, approved by 72 percent of voters on a state ballot question last November. However, she also talked about the overall role of the auditor’s office in the state, and what local residents can do to advocate for their communities and help make the government more transparent.
“As your state auditor, I have really been using my experience garnered as a legislator … working with our local communities, working with advocates, and trying to use those interactions,” said DiZoglio, who spent a decade as a state representative and senator from Methuen. “In the office of the state auditor, we are looking at things that are relevant to you. We are focused that when we conduct these audits, it is with the spirit and intention of making sure government is working as best as it can on your behalf.”
The goal of the auditor’s office is to make sure the state government is functioning properly and that money is being spent where it should be without fraud or abuse, she said.
“In Massachusetts, we have an elected state auditor, and you decide if you like or do not like what I am doing,” DiZoglio said.
While the auditor’s office answers to the taxpayers, DiZoglio made it clear that the office is not the IRS or the Department of Revenue, and does not audit citizens.
“We audit state entities, state departments, state agencies,” DiZoglio said. “We look at the use of your hard-earned tax dollars and how to make sure government is working better … That’s why I find it so curious and disappointing that our state legislature is refusing to be audited by the Office of the State Auditor.”
The state auditor said it is the goal of her office to work with agencies and departments to improve systems and help them operate more efficiently.
“So if any entity is refusing to participate in that process, it raises some significant concerns,” DiZoglio said. “If there is nothing to hide, open up the doors and let the sun shine in and we can work on some issues together.”
DiZoglio pointed out that every state agency and department is subject to state audits. She also noted that the same had been true of the state legislature until the early 1990s, when she said legislative leaders started throwing out legal roadblocks to audits.
She also pointed to recent audits of the MBTA and the Department of Children and Families as examples of where the auditor’s office uncovered issues and worked with the agencies to improve them.
“We exist to look at these processes, to look at these programs, to look at these procedures and then to write reports to these agencies … to help identify areas where they need to improve,” DiZoglio said. “If the legislature does not want that, what are they hiding?”
Many state legislators are not opposed to the audit, but are afraid to speak out for fear of retribution from the legislative leadership, DiZoglio said.
“At the State House, we really have a top-down style of government where folks in leadership have all the power, and then there is pretty much everybody else,” she said. “It’s not about Democrats and Republicans anymore, it’s about people with power and everybody.”
Many legislative decisions are made behind closed doors, DiZoglio said, by small committees. Once the laws come before the full body, there often isn’t time to make fully-informed decisions, or there is pressure from the leadership, according to DiZoglio.
The state legislature is also not subject to open meeting or records laws, she added. With the audit, DiZoglio said many of those records would then be available to the public.
“We have a lot of work to do to increase transparency and accountability across the board across all these different fronts,” DiZoglio said.
The refusal by the legislature to abide by the state ballot question in November to allow the audit only leads to more disenfranchisement and isolation for voters, she said.
At the heart of the audit is the effort to increase transparency, accountability, and accessibility, DiZoglio said.
“There’s been a lot of hate going toward the legislature right now for their refusal to cooperate,” DiZoglio said. “I have to say to you, I served in the legislature for 10 years, I love our legislature, I just also love transparency, accountability, and accessibility. There are so many good people in that building that want to do good, but they are not able to take a position on this and to stand up for this.”