Gov. Healey expects 'everyone' to implement new audit law

Gov. Maura Healey does not want to get involved in the debate about whether the new voter law authorizing the auditor to audit the Legislature would teeter into unconstitutional territory.

Legislative leaders have long argued that Auditor Diana DiZoglio's effort would violate the constitutional separation of powers, and in the weeks since voters approved a ballot question explicitly authorizing an audit, top Democrats have said they are weighing possible changes to the law.

In Newton on Monday, a reporter asked Healey if she thought DiZoglio's office now has the constitutional authority to audit the Legislature and if there was anything she could do to assist.

"The voters spoke on this, and that's been decided. I'm not going to opine on the constitutionality or a current legal case, but I think the voters have spoken here, and I expect everyone will work to implement it," Healey said.

The amended law still has not taken effect, and DiZoglio is already pushing to force the Legislature to comply with an audit by her office. She wrote to legislative leaders soon after the election seeking to formally revive her probe.

DiZoglio, herself a former representative and senator, last week wrote to Attorney General Andrea Campbell saying that legislative leaders have not fulfilled that request and requesting support to bring litigation against them. The Boston Herald first reported Friday about DiZoglio's latest letter, and a spokesperson for the auditor's office provided a copy to the News Service on Monday.

"Accordingly, I invite you to join our office’s efforts to disrupt the shameful status quo and shed a bit of sunlight on the woefully opaque Massachusetts Legislature," DiZoglio wrote in her letter dated Nov. 15. "Specifically, I request your support to start the process of litigating this matter as the Legislature has already failed to even acknowledge, much less comply with, our current audit engagement letter."

Last year, Campbell said the auditor's office had no legal authority to audit the Legislature over its objection. DiZoglio is now asking the attorney general to revisit that determination following passage of the ballot question.

"Although the [auditor's office] has consistently maintained that no such consent was required and our authority to audit the Legislature existed before the passage of Question 1, the issue of consent is now moot," DiZoglio wrote.