State Auditor Diana DiZoglio requested Legal professional Normal Andrea Campbell to greenlight a lawsuit towards the state Legislature to power the Home and Senate to adjust to a reignited effort to open up their funds and disclose particulars on inner proceedings, based on a letter obtained by the Herald.
In a letter despatched Friday, DiZoglio referred to as on Campbell to revisit a ruling from final 12 months that mentioned the State Auditor’s Workplace had no authorized authority to crack open the Legislature’s books with out its consent, a choice that additionally blocked DiZolgio’s pathway to court docket the place a decide may settle the matter.
However within the wake of a profitable poll query that grants the auditor the specific authority to analyze the Home and Senate, DiZoglio mentioned the “issue of consent is now moot” and invited Campbell “to join our office’s efforts to disrupt the shameful status quo and shed a bit of sunlight on the woefully opaque” Legislature.
“Specifically, I request your support to start the process of litigating this matter as the Legislature has already failed to even acknowledge, much less comply with, our current audit engagement letter,” DiZoglio wrote within the letter, which was additionally despatched to Gov. Maura Healey.
A spokesperson for Campbell mentioned the legal professional basic “respects the will of the voters with regard to Question 1.”
“But she does not have a role in the implementation of the law unless or until there is a legal dispute between the auditor and the Legislature that one of the parties wishes to litigate,” the spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
The timing of DiZoglio’s request may make issues difficult because the language of the poll query doesn’t take impact till the outcomes of the 2024 election are licensed, a course of that’s anticipated to be accomplished by Healey in early December.
The Home and Senate should additionally formally refuse to adjust to DiZoglio’s revitalized audit push for the Legal professional Normal’s Workplace to have a gap to think about authorized motion.
On the uncommon event one a part of state authorities is allowed to sue one other company or division, the legal professional basic represents one aspect and a particular assistant legal professional basic is usually appointed to signify the opposite aspect.
The request to pursue authorized motion comes nearly two weeks after DiZoglio despatched a letter to Home Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka informing them that the State Auditor’s Workplace deliberate to restart its beforehand stalled investigation into the 2 chambers.
DiZoglio mentioned the audit would faucet into “high-risk areas” like state contracting, procurement procedures, and the usage of taxpayer-funded non-disclosure agreements.
“We ask that all requested records and information be made available to use within 72 hours of the date of request,” DiZoglio mentioned within the Nov. 8 letter.
In an interview with the Herald Wednesday, DiZoglio mentioned Mariano and Spilka had not but responded to the request. Home and Senate officers mentioned the chambers plan to answer to DiZolgio, although their timing is unclear.
“We are assuming this matter might need to go to court to ensure compliance with the law,” DiZolgio mentioned. “We hope the attorney general represents the people of Massachusetts who overwhelmingly sided with this issue by 72%.”
Spokespeople for Mariano and Spilka declined to touch upon the letter.
In an early November 2023 letter, Campbell mentioned the choice to disclaim DiZoglio’s workplace entry to the court docket system to resolve her audit of the Legislature was constructed on recommendation given in 1994, when state legal professionals “expressed considerable doubt” that the auditor had the authority to audit the Legislature over its objection.
Campbell’s workplace did acknowledge the poll query in that letter, writing that the workplace might have to think about “whether, and the extent to which, constitutional limitations affect how the law would apply.”
In her Friday letter, DiZoglio mentioned the earlier opinion “usurped the powers and duties of the bench on a matter of great importance to the people of the commonwealth.”
“Those powers and duties cannot and should not be foreclosed by the opinion of a single elected official in the executive department,” DiZoglio wrote. “… The AGO’s sweeping opinion exceeded its authority and usurped the power of the judiciary, infringing upon the rights and authorities of the OSA.”
DiZoglio mentioned Campbell ought to reverse course for six causes, together with that the Auditor’s Workplace now has the specific authority to analyze the Legislature following the profitable poll query and the advantages of settling the matter in court docket outweigh potential authorized prices.
The Methuen Democrat, a former state lawmaker who frequently clashed with Democratic management, additionally mentioned the Legal professional Normal’s Workplace is “charged with protecting and defending the interests of the people.”
“It is in the people’s interest to have access to information, via a regular audit by our office, regarding the use of their tax dollars by our legislative leaders,” she wrote. “On Nov. 5, 2024, the people emphatically voiced their interests — overwhelmingly passing Question 1 granting the OSA the express authority to audit the Legislature.”
Mariano and Spilka have repeatedly argued that an audit of the Legislature by the Auditor’s Workplace violates separation of energy provisions outlined within the state structure.
The 2 Democrats have instructed they’re open to altering the voter-approved audit regulation.
The Home additionally voted to vary an inner rule to permit DiZoglio’s workplace to decide on the impartial agency that critiques the Home’s funds, a transfer Mariano mentioned didn’t have an effect on the poll query however elevated transparency.
In a short interview with the Herald after an unrelated occasion Tuesday, Spilka mentioned DiZoglio is “singularly focused on this issue.”
“There’s lots of other things that she has before her,” the Ashland Democrat mentioned.
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