To Auditor Diana DiZoglio disappointment, Massachusetts House passes controversial legislative audit and public records bill; Alan Silvia one of three Democrats who voted no

BY SAM DRYSDALE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, June 3, 2026…..The vast majority of House Democrats on Wednesday voted to narrow the scope of a voter-approved legislative audit and create a formal process to govern public access to legislative records.

The House approved the bill (H 5469Track) 125-28, with Democrat Reps. Michael Connolly, Steve Hawkins and Alan Silvia voting to join Republicans in opposing the measure.

“I take the duty to honor the will of the people very seriously, along with our duty to uphold the constitution,” Connolly told the News Service after the unusually lively debate on the House floor. He said the bill’s passage “seems like we’re pulling the rug out from under” the auditor “without even a committee hearing on this new audit bill language.”

“I mean, the headline almost writes itself, right? ‘Legislature passes transparency bill out of the cover of darkness,’ ” he said.

Democratic leaders argued the bill preserves the constitutional separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches, where the auditor’s office is positioned. The bill would limit the auditor’s power to investigate the branch to four categories of administrative functions, rather than the more expansive language outlined in the 2024 ballot law.

The legislation would also create a new statute establishing a legislative records request process and codifying which records would be public — most of which are already publicly available — and subject the governor’s office to the public records law from which they currently claim an exemption.

Mariano gave a rare floor speech Wednesday afternoon as he introduced the legislation, using the platform to criticize Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s tactics and promote the bill.

Mariano said representatives took an oath to “uphold the Legislature’s role as a co-equal branch of government, the branch closest to the people,” and said that constituents aren’t a “proxy for the whims of a single politician.”

“For you all know, the House does not oppose an audit,” Mariano said. “The House is already audited every year by an independent auditing firm, the results of which are posted on the Legislature’s website upon completion. What we oppose is a politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution, which is why we didn’t see a path forward until recently, when the auditor finally specified the scope of the audit before the Supreme Judicial Court.”

The bill stops Secretary of State William Galvin‘s office (who usually oversees public records inquiries) from interfering in requests to the Legislature, but allows a path of judicial review, while simultaneously barring the courts from resolving disputes between the auditor and lawmakers.

The provision barring judicial review in the case of constitutional questions around the legislative audit drew some of the most harsh feedback on the bill. Democrat leaders say this is a separation of powers issue.

“We heard a lot from the rostrum about separation of powers, and I wholeheartedly believe that that’s such an important principle,” Connolly said. “We, as Democrats, can’t say we don’t care about the separation of powers one day and then point the finger at Donald Trump the next day when he violates it. But all that said, we don’t draw those lines. Ultimately, in our system of government, it’s the judicial branch that draws constitutional lines.”

Republican Minority Leader Brad Jones filed five amendments to the bill, all of which he withdrew ahead of the debate. One of them would have allowed the auditor’s office to have judicial recourse if its request for records from the Legislature was denied.

Asked by the News Service why he withdrew these amendments, in doing so not forcing a roll call vote on any of them, Jones said the supermajority of Democrats “were not receptive” to amendments.

“It became clear from talking to the caucus, we weren’t going to make it any better, they were not receptive to any amendments today,” Jones said.

He criticized the process by which leadership rolled out the bill — holding no public hearing on it, and giving representatives about 24 hours to review it before taking a vote.

“They caucused yesterday. It was clear from what we heard that they did not want any amendments, there wasn’t any receptivity to amendments, they were going to do what they were going to do today,” he said.

Republican Rep. Todd Smola, who is the ranking minority member of the House Ways and Means Committee, questioned the process during a speech from the floor.

“Nobody saw this legislation 24 hours ago,” Smola said, adding that the committee had 34 minutes between when the poll landed in their inbox and they had to vote on it.

He continued, “Yet, we had to respond to that poll and ultimately weigh in as members of the committee. We had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion?’ That’s how confusing some components of this legislation were when we saw it for the first time yesterday.”

The bill received a favorable 21-0 vote from the Committee Ways and Means on Tuesday, though nine representatives reserved their rights and four took no action on the poll.

Rather than have the House and Senate take separate approaches to responding to DiZoglio’s requests for documents and a Supreme Judicial Court order from last month allowing her to proceed, Jones said the audit face-off “could and should have been handled” by the Legislature seeking the opinion of high court as to whether the 2024 voter law violates the constitution.

“I felt comfortable allowing the Supreme Judicial Court to review the constitutionality of the past ballot question and to weigh in on where to draw the lines, and so it just doesn’t sit well with me that after 18 to 20 months of pointing to the Constitution, which I think is very relevant here, as soon as the auditor wins her day in court, it seems like we’re pulling the rug out from under her,” Connolly said.

Despite the vocal minority against the bill, 125 lawmakers, Democrats and one Independent voted in favor of it.

Rep. Susannah Whipps, the one Independent in the Legislature, voted for the legislation.

“We’re co-equal branches of government, which I don’t think people realize when they bring up ‘independent,’ ” Whipps told the News Service. “And we’ve provided her with what she told the court she wanted from us, so it’s a done deal.”

Sen. Cindy Friedman said her chamber handed over records to DiZoglio on Monday. A spokesperson for Mariano did not immediately answer a News Service question about whether the House had done the same.

Mariano said in his remarks that the House bill “gives the auditor access to financial documents that she requested — providing ample insight into the House’s finances… In other words, as a result of this legislation, the auditor will be able to conduct the audit that the voters have called for.”

“And despite the baseless accusations from the auditor, there is nothing that anyone can say that erases the incredible work that this institution has been responsible for,” he said. “For as long as I’m speaker, there will be no bigger supporter of the members and staff who come to work everyday for the purpose of bettering their community. You have my word.”

[Alison Kuznitz contributed reporting.]

Sam Drysdale is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at sdrysdale@statehousenews.com.