Which of state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s former colleagues in the state Senate — all fellow Democrats — will come to her aid in her budget battle with Senate President Karen Spilka?
The answer is: none of them.
So beholden are they to Spilka,70, who runs the 40-member Senate with an iron fist, that none are bold enough to vote against her wishes. The Senate is made up of 37 Democrats and three Republicans.
Spilka is the Iron Lady of Beacon Hill.
The main issue, besides personality conflicts, is that DiZoglio, 40, has promised to conduct unheard of audits of both the House and Senate, which both Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano oppose.
One way to try and stop the audits is to cut the auditor’s budget request, which the Spilka-controlled Senate ways and Means Committee did last week, even though DiZoglio’s budget was approved in the state’s $55 billion overall budget by Gov. Maura Healey and the House.
The full Senate has yet to take up the budget. Individual senators can propose amendments to restore the budget request, but don’t count on it. Spilka will not stand for it.
Not only does Spilka’ oppose DiZoglio’s audit, but there is also her wish to get even with DiZoglio for her often insubordinate behavior when DiZoglio was a member of the Senate.
Spilka had stripped the outspoken DiZoglio of her committee chairmanship — and the extra pay that went along with it- – for questioning Spilka’s closed door, authoritarian leadership.
Legislators make good money these days, often doubling the $70,276 base pay they receive through leadership positions, committee chairmanships and expense accounts. To lose a committee chairmanship is to lose a lot of money, let alone the power and prestige of the position.
Despite Spilka’s opposition, as well as the opposition of eight of the 12 women who served in the Senate with DiZoglio — all Democrats — DiZoglio won the hotly contested 2022 Democrat nomination for state auditor over Chris Dempsey.
One of DiZoglio’s campaign promises was to audit the Legislature.
And there is no better way to throw sand in the machinery of a legislative audit than for Spilka to go after DiZoglio’s’ budget.
Her Senate Ways and Means Committee did this by essentially level-funding DiZoglio’s $23 million budget request for the upcoming fiscal year, or by increasing it by 1% — which amounts to the same thing — while increasing the budgets for the attorney general by 10%, the treasurer by 8% and the secretary of state by 6%.
Never one to let a slight go unaddressed, DiZoglio said that Spilka was using the budget “to settle political scores” and demonstrated “the incredible lack of integrity and equity in the legislative process.”
“Every dollar the senate president chooses to withhold from our office doesn’t hurt me, it hurts the taxpayer. The shameless tactics used to coerce, control, manipulate and punish just add to the many examples of why an audit of the Legislature is so desperately needed.”
She added, “No amount of bullying or retaliation will stop our office from doing our jobs by conducting this audit.”
Spilka is making DiZoglio out to be a hero, as far as the public is concerned, giving her more ammunition to go after the Legislature.
If Spilka planned to put DiZoglio out of action as far legislative audits are concerned, she failed to do so. Instead, she gave DiZoglio more incentive to continue.
DiZoglio is a shrewd political player, canny enough to shower praise on Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Gov. Healey “for adequality funding our office” in the “fight against waste, fraud and abuse.”
By bringing Michlewitz (a stand in for Speaker Ron Mariano) and Healey into the picture DiZoglio has framed the battle as one between Speaker Mariano and Gov. Healey, who are on her side against Senate President Spilka, who is not.
This is not a winning hand for Spilka.
Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.