Auditor aims to sue the Legislature after it refuses to comply with her review - The Boston Globe
Massachusetts State Auditor DiZoglio is initiating a legal battle against legislative leaders to force transparency in the state’s General Assembly, which has historically resisted audits and public records requests. She argues that the Legislature qualifies as a state department subject to her oversight and accuses leaders of weaponizing the law to maintain opacity. By seeking the Attorney General’s support for litigation, DiZoglio aims to establish a precedent for auditing legislative processes, challenging the claim that the branches are exempt from such scrutiny to protect their autonomy. This conflict highlights the tension between institutional independence and the public’s right to know how government operates. Legislative leaders contend that auditing their internal procedures violates the separation of powers and is unnecessary, given that some information is already available online. However, DiZoglio views this resistance as a refusal to cooperate with democratic accountability. The dispute underscores a significant gap in oversight mechanisms, where the only entity in the state refusing to engage with transparency initiatives is the body responsible for making laws. The situation is relevant to open_data because it tests the legal boundaries of data access and auditing power within government structures. It illustrates how established entities can resist data-sharing mandates by claiming constitutional protections, thereby limiting public insight into hiring, spending, and rule-making. Successful litigation could redefine what constitutes public data in a legislative context, setting a critical precedent for future open_data initiatives and ensuring that taxpayer-funded operations remain fully accessible and accountable to citizens.
Source: bostonglobe.comPublished on 2023-07-29
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