After years of resistance, Mass. Senate readying vote to comply with DiZoglio’s audit request

The Massachusetts Senate plans to vote Thursday to comply with state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s audit of their finances, offering one of the first signs that state lawmakers are willing, to a degree, to acquiesce to her quest to probe the Legislature.

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Top lieutenants to Senate President Karen Spilka framed the vote in the 40-member chamber as only being made possible by DiZoglio agreeing to keep her request to a narrow set of largely financial documents after prodding from the Supreme Judicial Court.

“This isn’t capitulation. This is a balanced, responsible way for us to respond,” said state Senator Paul Feeney, a Foxborough Democrat. “We are replying with all documents as requested.”

A spokesperson for DiZoglio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Feeney and Senator Cindy Friedman said the act of providing DiZoglio with the documents she has sought since at least January 2025 does not resolve constitutional concerns state lawmakers have with any potential future audits of the Legislature.

DiZoglio has focused her recent audit efforts on official budgets, copies of other audits, details of leftover cash at the end of each fiscal year, and a list of “monetary” agreements with current and former employees since fiscal year 2021.

Feeney said the documents would be sent to DiZoglio in a “matter of days” following Thursday’s vote.

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State lawmakers have repeatedly said that much of the information is already public and have consistently refused to willingly participate in an audit. Top leaders in the House and Senate have argued that an investigation into their business violates the constitutional separation of powers between coequal branches of government.

DiZoglio has also battled with Attorney General Andrea Campbell in her effort to sue the Legislature into compliance. Campbell has said the attorney general’s office is the only entity that can greenlight legal action against the House and Senate.

In an effort to circumvent Campbell and force Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano to hand over documents, DiZoglio filed a lawsuit.

In an order earlier this month, the high court gave Campbell 30 days to decide whether she would represent DiZoglio in court. After the order, Campbell said she would let DiZoglio hire an outside lawyer, though she wanted the auditor to refile the lawsuit to focus on the four sets of documents.

DiZoglio has said she plans to file a new case with the Supreme Judicial Court to specifically seek the limited set of documents. She also brought on labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, a former primary opponent of Campbell, as outside counsel.

DiZoglio, however, contends that nothing the court has so far said prohibits her from attempting a broader audit of the House and Senate in the future.

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This is a developing story and will be updated.