A new coalition of organizations is threatening to file a lawsuit in January to try to force the Legislature to comply with a new voter law giving the state auditor the authority to investigate the House and Senate.
The Mass. Fiscal Alliance, Fiscal Alliance Foundation, Act on Mass, Pioneer Institute, and the Pioneer Public Interest Law Center announced the coalition outside the House of Representatives Chamber around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Massachusetts residents voted overwhelmingly to give Auditor Diana DiZoglio the explicit power to turn her office’s microscope onto the House and Senate. Legislative leaders have resisted DiZoglio’s audit attempts and continue to point to separation of powers concerns in the wake of the ballot question’s passage.
“More people and organizations will join this coalition, including representatives from the right, from the left, from the Legislature, from the municipal level, from in the state and out of state, the finalized plaintiff list will be robust, just like the results of the election,” Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Craney said.
Craney called on Attorney General Andrea Campbell to force compliance with the new law to prevent legal action from the coalition.
Campbell has been quiet in responding to calls from DiZoglio to begin pressing enforcement of the law, after cautioning last year of the policy’s “constitutional limitations.”
“Attorney General Andrea Campbell can take up this good governance issue and force the implementation of the ballot question, demanding the will of the voters, and being on the right side of every municipality that voted in favor. Rarely do these types of political gits magically appear,” Craney said.
Campbell’s office declined to comment when an audit law-related lawsuit was filed two weeks ago. Her office said Wednesday that she respects the will of the voters but “does not have the authority to force the implementation of the law unless or until there is a legal dispute between the Auditor and the Legislature that one of the parties wishes to litigate.”
The coalition said it will not file litigation until after Jan. 5, when the Secretary of State’s office considers the new law to be effective.
The coalition said it will have sitting members of the Legislature among the plaintiffs, naming Republican Rep. Marcus Vaughn among supporters. Asked if any sitting Democratic legislators planned to join the suit, Craney said, “We’re working on it.”
Helen Brady, who lost a bid for state auditor in 2018, said she vowed during her campaign to try to audit the Legislature, “knowing that it may not be permissible.”
“Here we are six years later,” Brady said. Addressing lawmakers and referencing the number of votes in support of Question 1, she added, “You’ve got your marching orders from the [2.3 million] citizens of the Commonwealth. Make no mistake, we the people will hold you to your campaign promises delivering a more transparent Beacon Hill.”
Jennifer Nassour, the former chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, declared that the state auditor “has the full support of the party.”
However, the group also tried Wednesday to emphasize a bipartisan message.
Scotia Hille, executive director of the left-leaning Act on Mass, said “it shouldn’t have to come to this” that people are “so unconfident, uncertain, that our legislators are operating in their best interests.”
“In a state where a Democratic supermajority was reelected easily, the first post-election move for our Democratic leaders in the Legislature was to block, water-down, and delay the most popular initiative on the ballot,” Hille said.
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