Question 1: Voters to weigh in on whether to give auditor 'wide-ranging' authority to review House and Senate business

A longtime pledge by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio to audit the state Legislature, contending this will provide more transparency and accountability to legislative proceedings, is coming before voters at the November election, after she was unable to convince legislators to allow such work to take place.

On Question 1 on the ballot, voters are being asked whether DiZoglio should have the authority to audit the Legislature in the same way she does other state agencies, giving her the ability, as she puts it, to do “wide-ranging review(s) of the House and Senate’s budget, hiring and spending practices, plus information about active and pending bills, the processes for appointing members to committees, and how the rules, policies and procedures get made.”

Approval of the measure, according to a voters guide printed by the Secretary of State, “would specify that the State Auditor has the authority to audit the Legislature.” Rejection of the measure would mean no change in the auditor’s authority.

While various polls indicate that the idea has widespread public support, being backed by the Committee for Transparent Democracy and the Mass Fiscal Alliance, a similar initiative has already been rejected by a joint panel of legislators, with leaders citing separation of powers of the legislative branch and executive branch, of which the auditor is part under the Massachusetts Constitution. But there is no active opposition to the measure, with the main public critics being constitutional scholars and civics educators.



https://www.gazettenet.com/Question-1-on-state-ballot-57080389