What happens when someone in government tries to reform government?
Just take a look at what Beacon Hill is doing to our Auditor.
Gov. Maura Healey just made her budget pitch before Joint Committee on Ways and Means and despite disappointing revenues the Treasurer’s office will get a 4.8% increase, the AG’s office will see a 9.2% increase, the Inspector General’s office would get a 9.5% increase, and Secretary of State a whopping 10%.
So how much for the Auditor’s office, the place that can actually use more funding to reign in the enormous waste and fraud in our state government? Auditor Diana DiZoglio would only see a 2.1% increase under the Governor’s proposal.
We all know what’s happening here, this shortchanging of funding is in retaliation to DiZoglio’s plan to audit the legislature, something Democratic leadership is deathly afraid of despite the fact that it has bipartisan support among voters and the rank and file.
As DiZoglio finished answering questions from a handful of lawmakers, state Senator Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport), who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee, told her: “Thank you very much for your testimony. We look forward to working with you.”
This is Beacon Hill speak for “we look forward to NOT working with you, because we don’t have to.” At the end of the day Rodrigues will do what he always does, what every bought-and-paid-for Democrat does: he’ll do whatever Senate President Karen Spilka, his real boss, tells him to do.
“Every dollar the Senate President chooses to withhold from our office doesn’t hurt me, it hurts taxpayers. 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,” DiZoglio said.
As she stated last May after announcing the audit “The Senate Budget is the latest example of how Beacon Hill’s most powerful politicians weaponize our taxpayer dollars to punish people for standing up for taxpayers. The state budget should not be treated as a game meant to settle political scores. This move further demonstrates the incredible lack of integrity and equity in their legislative process.”
And make no mistake, both House and Senate leadership are absolutely in the business of settling political scores as DiZoglio has a history of calling out their bad behavior when she was State Rep. and State Senator.
The money she’s requesting is not just for auditing the legislature, DiZoglio is also proposing new audit units that would deal with housing, transportation, the MBTA, environmental issues, and artificial intelligence. As anyone who follows state government know, there’s lots of fat in these areas and they should absolutely be audited, especially at this time when state revenues are falling short of projections and real estate taxes are going up across the Commonwealth.
Fortunately for voters, citizen activists got over 100,000 signatures to get the matter of a legislative audit on the ballot in November, well more than the 75,000 needed. The question will likely pass easily, and then the only question will be if Beacon Hill complies with the will of the voters or chooses once again to ignore us.
Stay tuned!
When the people voted to roll back the State income tax how long did it take before it got done? Then the people voted in favor of adult use cannabis (Question 4) the State Treasurer added an additional 7% increase in excise tax, OVER AND ABOVE what the people voted for. Did the Legislature do anything to right that? Why would they give the Auditor more $$$ so she can do her job? It's what happens in a 1-party ruled State.