Massachusetts Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s request to pursue legal action against the legislature to force them to comply with an audit of their operations is “rare,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Friday.
DiZoglio asked Campbell last month for permission to take the House and Senate to court in an effort to get the two branches to open up their finances and divulge details on active and pending legislation, processes for appointing committees, adoption and suspension of rules, and policies and procedures of the Massachusetts General Court.
But it is uncommon for one side of state government to take legal action against another, Campbell said.
“I just want to stress that this is rare that you have one part of government wanting to sue another or vice versa depending on how this unfolds,” Campbell said on GBH’s Boston Public Radio.
DiZoglio is required to seek approval from the attorney general before bringing a lawsuit against any entity, public or private, according to state law. She made her request in a legal memo sent to Campbell late last month.
At a press conference where she escalated her feud with Democratic lawmakers in the Legislature, DiZoglio said she does “not wish to go to court.”
“We have repeatedly offered to have conversations, requested compliance with this audit, requested that the legislature see the value and opportunity in working alongside our office to help increase access for the voters,” the state auditor said.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka have refused to comply with DiZoglio’s audit and rebuffed the state auditor’s claims that she has the legal or constitutional authority to run an oversight check on the two branches.
In a March letter to DiZoglio, Mariano said DiZoglio’s claim of authority to conduct the audit is “entirely without legal support or precedent, as it runs contrary to multiple, explicit provisions of the Massachusetts Constitution, and is wholly unnecessary as the public currently has full and ready access to the House’s financial information.”
Campbell did not tip her hand on whether she is leaning towards approving or rejecting DiZoglio’s request for legal action, only saying the office is “doing our due diligence” and reaching out to all parties involved.
“We are not rushing this process,” Campbell said on the radio. “… When we make that decision, it will be thoughtful and we will be crystal clear as to why we made a decision one way or the other.”
DiZoglio has a backup plan if Campbell does not give her the greenlight.
The state auditor, along with a group of transparency advocates, filed a ballot question that would give her office the authority to conduct an audit of the Legislature. DiZoglio has said she will not use taxpayers dollars on the ballot question push and filed it as a private resident.
Campbell said she believes in transparency but would not comment on the proposed state law until her office has finished reviewing it.
“More to come on that. Obviously it is her power in her other capacity to pursue this,” Campbell said.
Materials from the State House News Service were used in this report.