FAQ

This ballot question would add five words: “and the General Court itself” – to Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 11, Section 12, which dictates the powers of and legal mandates on the State Auditor’s office. The General Court is another term for the Massachusetts Legislature. An audit of the Legislature would simply provide parity so that it receives the same type of audit conducted of all other state entities. By identifying operational challenges, the State Auditor would be able to provide recommendations for improvement so that taxpayers are better served. 

The State Auditor’s office conducts performance audits of all state entities to ensure that taxpayer money is spent effectively and that government works as it should. Under law, all audits must strictly adhere to the Government Auditing Standards set forth by the Government Accountability Office. The office regularly reviews the Executive and Judicial Departments to help make government work better. Only one department has stood in opposition to the transparency, accountability, and equity these audits bring, and that’s the Legislature.

Why, yes, it certainly has! There are at least 113 past audits of the Legislature, beginning with the Office of the State Auditor’s inception in 1849. Unfortunately, our current Legislature is refusing the same type of audit the Office of State Auditor conducts for every other state department — both executive and judicial. 

We have a (kind of amazing) bipartisan group of activists and organizers who are pushing for a more transparent, equitable and accountable legislature. Our coalition includes the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s State Committee, Progressive Massachusetts, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, Act on Mass, the Massachusetts Voter Table, the MassGOP, MassFiscal, the Pioneer Institute, Our Revolution Massachusetts, and more. We’ve also been endorsed by the Boston Globe Editorial Board. They say a yes vote on Question 1 is “simply the right thing to do.” And, of course, we agree.

Because the Massachusetts Legislature has increasingly become a body 

of secrecy and ineffectiveness. Massachusetts had the country’s least effective State Legislature in 2021, per one study, passing just .41 percent of bills introduced that year. At the end of last year, House lawmakers had taken fewer votes at that point in their two-year session than any other going back two decades. Massachusetts is the only state in the country where the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches are exempt from its Public Records Law, preventing everyday people – and the press – from accessing public documents and receipts. Massachusetts is also one of 11 states whose legislature claims exemption from the Open Meeting Law. The Center for Public Integrity has given the Commonwealth a D+ grade on public access to information.

The people of Massachusetts deserve better.

Make a voting plan! Make sure you vote on or before November 5th, and ask the same of your friends and neighbors. Also: we are taking on powerful political insiders, and we need the financial resources to keep pushing. We urge all supporters of transparency and a better legislature to donate to our committee and make sure we can get the message out to as many voters as possible.