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BOSTON (State House News Service) — Top House and Senate Democrats say a new decision from Attorney General Andrea Campbell reinforces their opinion that the state auditor lacks the "statutory or constitutional authority to audit any other separate branch of government."
Legislative leaders have resisted Auditor Diana DiZoglio's efforts to audit their operations. On Friday morning, Campbell released a letter to DiZoglio in which she concluded that the auditor's office "does not currently have the legal authority to audit the Legislature without the Legislature's consent." House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka soon circulated excerpts from the letter.
To advance their legislative audit, DiZoglio and other supporters of greater legislative transparency are pushing a possible 2024 ballot question proposing a new law to make her auditing powers explicit.
DiZoglio this year sought Campbell's support for a potential lawsuit designed to clear the way for a legislative audit, but in the new letter the attorney general's office says its research is "sufficiently clear that litigation on this question is not necessary or appropriate."
In an email to senators Friday morning, Spilka wrote, "I am heartened that the Attorney General and her highly experienced legal team reached this conclusion -- the position we have argued for months -- based on the law, the facts, and the historical record. The Attorney General's findings are crystal clear: the Auditor's proposed audit has no basis in law and shall not proceed."
Written by Michael P. Norton/SHNS
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