Lawmakers, academics call DiZoglio ballot question a ‘power grab’

WAS IT A PREVIEW of coming attractions? A combative Diana DiZoglio appeared before state lawmakers on Tuesday, pushing to place before voters a November ballot question expressly giving her the authority to conduct an audit of the Legislature.

The players were all inside Room A-1 at the State House for a legislative hearing that was lightly attended compared to the other ballot questions. The key players were there: DiZoglio, the state auditor who previously served in the Legislature; her former colleagues, the targets of the audit; and the supporting casts on either side of the issue. DiZoglio made a dramatic entrance when it was her turn to testify, hauling in a cart stacked high with past legislative audits.

DiZoglio’s supporters come from both the right and left ends of the political spectrum, agreeing with her argument that the Legislature is one of the most opaque operating in the country. While DiZoglio has indicated she wants to audit how the Legislature structures committees and how it makes procurements, her testimony hewed to the populist argument for the audit, saying the Legislature is in dire need of transparency. “What is there to hide?” she asked.

DiZoglio made the audit a key part of her 2022 campaign for the job, and she has essentially returned to the campaign trail in pushing for the ballot measure.

The lawmakers at the hearing weren’t convinced, as expected. They and academic experts called the audit a “power grab,” and a violation of the separation of powers between the executive, where the auditor’s office resides, and the legislative branches of government.

Tuesday’s confrontation aside, the ballot question is expected to land before voters, and then, if it passes, on to the Supreme Judicial Court. The same arguments are expected to play out at the ballot box and at the courthouse.

Dan Winslow, who has served in all three branches of government as a gubernatorial advisor, judge, and Republican state representative, supports the audit and said lawmakers should take action to define the boundaries of the audit before the high court takes a stab.

There is an open question whether she can review the record of votes by committee members, according to Winslow, who is now president of the New England Legal Foundation.

“This constitutional gray area is the opportunity for the House and Senate to enact legislation with criteria to guide the judicial branch in distinguishing between core legislative functions and mere administrative functions,” the latter of which Winslow believes DiZoglio can audit, such as use of credit cards and settlements with employees using tax dollars.

Winslow appeared in front of a special legislative panel tasked with weighing the potential ballot questions that will likely go before voters in November.

David King, a Harvard faculty member, said DiZoglio’s audit proposal would “deeply damage” the balance of powers between the Legislature and the executive branch. “The gambit reads like an old-fashioned power grab,” he told lawmakers.

King defended the Legislature, pointing to available video of committee meetings and legislative sessions. “That seems transparent to me,” he said.

DiZoglio called King and another academic “cherry-picked speakers the committee invited to testify for the purposes of political theater.” 

“I would say the experts are the taxpayers who live in our communities who feel disenfranchised,” DiZoglio added.

On that, she and her former colleagues seemed to agree. Rep. Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat, said voters get to elect their state lawmakers every two years at the ballot box, and those lawmakers end up voting on rules and forming the committees. “Taxpayers are the experts, right? I think we can agree the voters are the experts on this,” he said.

The hearing was part of a series, and the committee plans to issue reports on the ballot questions. If the Legislature doesn’t approve them, proponents have to go out and get more signatures to get it on the November ballot.

After the hearing, standing next to the two chairs of the committee, Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington and Rep. Alice Peisch of Wellesley, Day continued pushing back on DiZoglio, who had left the room.

“The proponents of this have done a great job of spinning this as a transparency issue,” he said. “It’s about power. It’s about shifting who’s got power.”