Katie Castellani and Sam Drysdale
State House News Service

Legislative leaders are striking a more personal chord in their dismissal of Auditor Diana DiZiglio’s calls for them to comply with her desired legislative audit, marking a shift from their repeated constitutional concerns with the request.

During a live interview with journalist Jon Keller on Wednesday morning, House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka did not budge from their hard line against having DiZoglio audit their books, after 72% of voters cast ballots in 2024 to authorize a legislative audit by her office.

In the past, the legislative leaders have pointed to a constitutional conflict related to the separation of powers, but on Wednesday their arguments turned more personal and centered on reforms they've already made that they say accomplish the same goal of more transparency.

Earlier this month, DiZoglio filed a lawsuit in the state's highest court seeking to compel the Legislature to comply with the 2024 ballot law. On Wednesday, DiZoglio filed a motion in response to a move from Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who is representing legislative leaders in the case, to strike the lawsuit. 

"I have nothing to hide. As a matter of fact, we do audit, we've done an audit every year. The audit is on the internet. The issue is we don't want a political audit,” Mariano said. "If you see the behavior that the auditor is engaged in, again, we see smacks of bullying type behavior."

Asked for an example, the speaker pointed to an allegation DiZoglio made "that came out of nowhere" that the House was delaying the audit to have time to destroy records.

Spilka said lawmakers have been trying to figure out what DiZoglio is looking for from the Legislature for years.

“We have tried to systematically, at least the last couple of years, to reform our way of doing things to be more transparent, to be more accountable, to be more open,” Spilka said. “...I don't know what it is that she wants, except for she is a headline hunter.”

Spilka said “everything is public” including an audit conducted by an independent firm, hearings, sessions and communications. 

Keller referenced an October 2025 letter DiZoglio sent to Campbell where she said: “We are auditing the General Court’s administrative functions, not its legislative functions. Our review of budgetary, financial, and contractual records does not constitute an exercise of the General Court’s legislative powers by my office in violation of Mass. Const. Pt. I art. 30.”

Spilka noted that DiZoglio has not been clear about what aspects of the Legislature she’s seeking to audit.

When Keller asked if they trusted DiZoglio, Spilka grimaced and Mariano said “there’s a component of that.”

DiZoglio fired back, saying the “lawlessness of these two officials is anti-democratic,” in a statement to the New Service.

“As always, they turn the focus away from their lawbreaking into a personal assault on my character. It’s the same tired game,” DiZoglio added. “Think about how disturbing it is that the powerful Speaker won’t release even one receipt to the public then acts like some feeble and helpless victim in all of this.”

DiZoglio said the Post Audit and Oversight Committee is auditing the executive branch’s DOT contracts, while lawmakers are pushing back on an audit of the Legislature’s contracts.

“The people have had enough of their power trip,” DiZoglio said. “They do not reflect the values of Massachusetts residents with respect to transparency and accountability and it’s beyond time they move on from Beacon Hill.”

Asked if they see a path for negotiating with the auditor, Mariano said the Legislature has “moved considerably,” noting all committee votes are public and the House invited DiZoglio to help pick an independent auditor to go through the Legislature’s books.

“We've tried to meet her halfway on three or four other areas that we think were worthwhile,” he said. “If you're so interested in the facts of the audit, come in and help us pick that professional auditor, not an elected official.”

Spilka agreed, saying lawmakers have made more information available online and on social media and they are “continually striving to be more transparent.”

DiZoglio said the Legislature’s internal audits have not been posted in accordance with state rules since 2023. State regulations require the Senate and House Committees on Rules to provide an annual fiscal year audit of financial accounts that must be posted on the General Court’s website. 

The most recent House and Senate audits available online are from fiscal year 2023 and each audit is seven pages long. An independent audit of the House for fiscal year 2024 is underway by firm CliftonLarsonAllen, the firm that conducted previous audits,  and will be posted to the Legislature’s website upon completion, according to Mariano's office. The audit for fiscal 2025 will begin as soon as fiscal 2024's is complete.