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DiZoglio wants to audit the Legislature. However, there are no other tests
Enterprise

DiZoglio wants to audit the Legislature. However, there are no other tests

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio has pushed hard for Question 1, which would clarify whether she has the authority to audit Massachusetts legislation. But the office is already far behind in its required audits, a WBUR audit found.

By law, the office must conduct audits of about 200 state agencies every three years. According to a review of its website, WBUR found that the bureau had not reviewed nearly half of them by that deadline.

Last year, DiZoglio’s office released 32 audits – the lowest tally in nearly two decades. She has completed 33 so far this year.

Her predecessor, Suzanne Bump, achieved an average score of around 60 in her last two terms in office. She also did not fulfill the three-year term of office for several agencies.

In a statement, DiZoglio’s office said it is “fully on track” to comply with the three-year mandate.

Diana DiZoglio, Massachusetts state auditor at WBUR. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Diana DiZoglio, Massachusetts state auditor at WBUR. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

DiZoglio, who served as a state representative and state senator before becoming comptroller in January 2023, traveled 141 miles across the state this month to promote her ballot measure, Question 1. This would clarify whether it has the authority to audit the legislature. Opponents of the measure say the tests proposed in the question would violate the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of state government.

Audits offer the public a glimpse into how state government operates, both good and bad. Without them, the public may never have become aware of the unreported abuse of children in foster care, lack of information about registered sex offenders, a notorious Worcester Zamboni, and other abuses of public funds.

However, WBUR found five agencies on the auditors’ list that appear to have never been fully audited. A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs told WBUR that an audit is currently underway. Others referred WBUR’s questions to the comptroller’s office.

For example, no audit is listed for the Massachusetts Marketing Partnership (founded in 2010), which spent about $47 million on public relations and tourism for the state last year.

WBUR’s analysis of published audits also found a backlog of 37 agencies that had not been audited in five or more years. More than half of these had previous audits that found “adverse findings” such as waste or administrative deficiencies.

For example, the 2014 audit of the State Office for Pharmacy Services found that up to $10 million was wasted due to inefficient systems and identified a potential conflict of interest involving the executive director. The agency has not been audited since then.

And despite scandals at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in 2021 and the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in 2020, which included administrative failures, deadly consequences and calls for reform, neither has been audited in the last six years.

The comptroller’s office has long faced challenges in fulfilling the three-year mandate that took effect in 2011. Bump, who declined to comment, also struggled to conduct enough checks.

Massachusetts auditor Suzanne Bump (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Former Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

DiZoglio did not answer questions about why the office had not audited any of these agencies, whose review was long overdue. However, she blamed the agencies themselves for the recent delays in testing.

“Our office has waited more than six months for the documents we requested to complete our audits,” the statement said.

DiZoglio’s office later added that “more than 60 audits are in progress, spanning more than 100 state agencies.”

Karissa Hand, spokeswoman for Gov. Maura Healey, said the administration is working with DiZoglio to ensure “full cooperation and transparency” from state agencies. Hand did not address why some of the agencies were never audited.

Several state government experts told WBUR that it’s not surprising that audit numbers have fallen since DiZoglio took over.

“In the first few years of getting used to a new office, you can expect lower efficiency and performance,” said Evan Horowitz, director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University. “But this comptroller also chose to take on a major side project at the same time as pushing the ballot issue… I would be surprised if it wasn’t distracting.”

DiZoglio said the Legislature remains secretive and has made auditing the panel its mission.

"It honestly doesn't matter where I stand," Senate President Karen Spilka commented on sports betting in a press release on Monday. (Sam Doran/SHNS)
Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano. (Sam Doran/SHNS)

Polls show that most voters support Question 1. However, many legal analysts believe the measure violates the Massachusetts Constitution. Bump, the former comptroller, also opposes the ballot question, saying it would “politicize and degrade” the comptroller’s office.

In 2023, Attorney General Andrea Campbell determined that under current law, DiZoglio’s needed the Legislature’s approval for the audit. Campbell allowed the ballot question to proceed, but wrote that if it passes, “we may need to consider whether and to what extent constitutional limitations affect the application of the law.”

If the question passes, there will likely be a court challenge.

Last week, DiZoglio’s office released a controversial 77-page report that cited the Legislature for a “lack of transparency,” late financial reports and procurement problems. Legislative leaders refused to cooperate with the comptroller’s office, and House Speaker Ronald Mariano called DiZoglio’s report “pure political self-promotion.”

In a statement to WBUR, Mariano said DiZoglio should “focus on her legally required reviews as she continues to perform worse than her predecessors in completing this important work.”

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