Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBS Costs Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back everyone. I think most of my
Speaker 2: audience knows the story that we're about to discuss with
Speaker 2: State Auditor, the Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Auditor
Speaker 2: Diana Desaglio, Auditor Dozaglio, Welcome back to NIGHTSID.
Speaker 3: How are you, Dan, Thanks so much for having me
Speaker 3: back on. It's always great to be with you.
Speaker 2: It's always great to have you on. You recently walked
Speaker 2: across the state in order to bring some visibility to
Speaker 2: the issue that is so important to you, and it's
Speaker 2: a pretty simple request you're making. You, as the state Auditor,
Speaker 2: want the opportunity to order the state legislature, of which
Speaker 2: you have served in both houses, in both the State
Speaker 2: House of Representatives and in the State Senate. But the
Speaker 2: leadership has been somewhat resistant to your requests to audit
Speaker 2: their books, which to me is a problem. You know
Speaker 2: that I'm a big supporter of your effort here, and
Speaker 2: you were successful. On November fifth, seventy two percent of
Speaker 2: the record number of voters that went to the polls
Speaker 2: supported your request, which really should be obvious to audit
Speaker 2: the state Legislature, and I was surprised today you carried
Speaker 2: with that issue, that ballot question three hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: one out of the three hundred and fifty one Massachusetts
Speaker 2: and cities and towns. You carried every community and the
Speaker 2: state legislature. The leadership of the state legislature is trying
Speaker 2: to throw a monkey wrench into the wishes and the
Speaker 2: votes of their their stitchuents.
Speaker 3: What's going on, Yeah, Dan, it's really unfortunate. And they're
Speaker 3: not just somewhat opposing, they are humanly still opposing our
Speaker 3: efforts to conduct an audit that not only was already
Speaker 3: state lawe as a state law, as we demonstrated with
Speaker 3: the over one hundred audits that our office has always
Speaker 3: conducted in the past, but now we passed this new
Speaker 3: state law into law. Together with like you said, three
Speaker 3: hundred and fifty one cities and towns voting in support.
Speaker 3: We did not lose one community in Massachusetts. Seventy two
Speaker 3: percent of the voters of Massachusetts spoke loud and clear
Speaker 3: that they want increased transparency and accountability from our state legislature,
Speaker 3: which is frequently ranked as one of the least if
Speaker 3: not the least transparent state legislature and the entire nation.
Speaker 3: Our legislature exempts itself from public records laws, they exempt
Speaker 3: themselves from open meeting laws. They are able to take
Speaker 3: votes in the middle of the night with actually no
Speaker 3: recorded role call votes and passed bills into law while
Speaker 3: everybody's sleeping with no public hearings. It's no wonder why
Speaker 3: we've been recently ranked as having one of the least efficient. Actually,
Speaker 3: we've got the ranking of police efficient state legislature in
Speaker 3: the entire nation just this last year. We've had a
Speaker 3: late state budget for at least fourteen years. Friends, it's
Speaker 3: time for change, and the voters did just vote for change.
Speaker 3: Voters across Massachusetts came out, they spoke loud and clear,
Speaker 3: they called on their elected leaders to change the status quo.
Speaker 3: And unfortunately, legislative leaders still have not gotten the message.
Speaker 3: And they've actually done some work in recent weeks to
Speaker 3: try to stemy the efforts of the auditor's office by
Speaker 3: actually passing a rules change in their House of Representatives
Speaker 3: to essentially try to signal that it's their intention to
Speaker 3: try to replace the law essentially with their own version
Speaker 3: of just hiring a private auditor. Controlling the process and
Speaker 3: being able to decide what's examined, what's not examined, what's released,
Speaker 3: what's not released, to be able to control the entire
Speaker 3: scope of those audits and prevent some private firm from
Speaker 3: being able to examine anything that they don't want them
Speaker 3: to examine. Basically, they've been trying to state that they
Speaker 3: believe that the same process they've always used is sufficient,
Speaker 3: while friends, that's not acceptable. The voters spoke loud and clear,
Speaker 3: so we are demanding access to what they are doing
Speaker 3: with your tax dollars.
Speaker 2: So now it looks to me, and I don't know
Speaker 2: if you can agree with me or not, that it
Speaker 2: looks to me as if they are trying to do
Speaker 2: since we're in the middle of the football season, sort
Speaker 2: of an end around play. And what they're saying is
Speaker 2: the voter spoke seventy two percent. Seventy two percent, I
Speaker 2: mean that's like three nearly three out of four voters
Speaker 2: said audit to allow the auditor to audit the legislature.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think Duncan donuts, Tom Brady when
Speaker 3: he was here, and auditing the legislature are the only
Speaker 3: things that have that that amount of percentage of support.
Speaker 3: That's pretty incredible, pretty incredible.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, So now we're going to try to make sure
Speaker 2: people understand. So what the legislature is doing. They have said, well,
Speaker 2: even though the state constitution says that questions on the
Speaker 2: ballot become law thirty days after the vote in Massachusetts,
Speaker 2: and if we count the days from November fifth, this
Speaker 2: law giving you the ability to audit the legislature should
Speaker 2: now be the law of the comal. But the legislature
Speaker 2: has said, uh huh, it should We're going to say
Speaker 2: it's thirty days from when the Secretary of State verified
Speaker 2: corroborated the electoral results. Is the electoral results? Is that going?
Speaker 2: As I understand it, They're basically trying to stall you.
Speaker 2: This is the old end around stall.
Speaker 3: Play, So you are correct there trying to stall implementation
Speaker 3: of the law that they've already signaled they have no
Speaker 3: intention of following. So essentially what just happened over the
Speaker 3: course of the last week, our office has been preparing
Speaker 3: to initiate the audit that we you know, are supposed
Speaker 3: to be conducted, that we're mandated to conduct, and that
Speaker 3: is actually in effect to take place for the law.
Speaker 3: That's an effect to take place today December fifth. November
Speaker 3: fifth was the election today, December fifth. That law is
Speaker 3: actually supposed to be in place. It actually is effective.
Speaker 3: It is effective today exactly. Now, what's happening right now
Speaker 3: as legislative leaders are trying to stall and they're saying, well,
Speaker 3: that's not accurate. You know, it's thirty days from when
Speaker 3: the question gets certified by the Governor's Council. And that's
Speaker 3: just simply inaccurate. Dan, It's actually very clear in the
Speaker 3: Constitution that actually says in a crystal queer fashion that
Speaker 3: ballot questions regarding state law changes are to take effects
Speaker 3: thirty days after the state election. Now, I didn't just
Speaker 3: pull that information just from the Constitution. I actually verified
Speaker 3: it by looking at the Secretary of State's Informational Guidebook
Speaker 3: on Ballot Questions. That actually explicitly states in the secretary
Speaker 3: of State's Guidebook that the law takes place. It doesn't
Speaker 3: just say that it takes place thirty days after the
Speaker 3: state election. It actually says the date in the guide book.
Speaker 3: It says the date of December fifth, twenty twenty four,
Speaker 3: these laws shall take effect. However, when I went to
Speaker 3: go and call for the law to take effects today.
Speaker 3: We heard a different story yesterday, unfortunately, and leaders on
Speaker 3: Beacon Hill said that you know that now wasn't accurate
Speaker 3: and that was what was written and the Secretary of
Speaker 3: State's guidebook was not actually the truth, and that they
Speaker 3: believe they have more time, and you know, it's just
Speaker 3: we're at the point Dan where you know, there's so
Speaker 3: much guest lighting going on. Something needs to be done.
Speaker 3: People need to start standing up and calling their elected
Speaker 3: officials and demanding that this law be followed. So if
Speaker 3: you're listening tonight, folks, please call the Secretary of State
Speaker 3: and ask for his support. Please call the Attorney General
Speaker 3: and ask for her support. Please call the governor ask
Speaker 3: for her to help and ensure that this becomes you know,
Speaker 3: it's actually effective, sooner rather than later. The law is
Speaker 3: the law today, And call every state legislator that you
Speaker 3: can and demand that they follow the will of the people.
Speaker 2: So well said, we're going to take a quick break,
Speaker 2: and when we come back, I want to explain what
Speaker 2: I think the legislature has planned, because they have another
Speaker 2: play that they want to run. After they stall you
Speaker 2: for thirty days, there will be a new legislature in session,
Speaker 2: and I think that they have another trick up their sleeves,
Speaker 2: and I want to run that one by you. And
Speaker 2: I want people to understand that you're a Democrat. You
Speaker 2: were a Democratic state representative, you were an aid to
Speaker 2: a Democrat in the House, you were a Democratic state representative.
Speaker 2: You're a state senator, a Democratic state senator, and you
Speaker 2: are elected as an auditor who happens to be a Democrat.
Speaker 2: So this is not some Republican who is outnumbered badly
Speaker 2: at the legislature. You are with the majority party and
Speaker 2: all you want is some transparency. Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant.
Speaker 2: But you have the legislative leadership up there which controls
Speaker 2: their membership by doling out committee and subcommittee assignments and
Speaker 2: the extra money that those individuals earn above and beyond
Speaker 2: their base salary. And that is how the legislature stays
Speaker 2: the legislature of Massachusetts. We're going to emphasize to people
Speaker 2: that they need to take some action. You can do
Speaker 2: two things. You can call tonight and support the state
Speaker 2: auditor and let your voice be heard across the commonwealth.
Speaker 2: But in addition to that, I hope you'll be willing
Speaker 2: to call tomorrow or buttonhold your state legislator or this weekend,
Speaker 2: whether it be your state senator or your state representative,
Speaker 2: and say the vote has been taken. The Democrats we're
Speaker 2: talking about on a national level, that they were concerned
Speaker 2: that this election was about democracy, Diana, as I'm sure
Speaker 2: you know, and they were concerned that the democracy was
Speaker 2: on the ballot. Well, democracy is actually on the ballot
Speaker 2: here in Massachusetts, and by a seventy two to twenty
Speaker 2: eight percent margin. People say, audit the legislature. I'm going
Speaker 2: to give our phone number, and then later on I'll
Speaker 2: give the phone number the State House tomorrow, and let's
Speaker 2: see what we can do to get this get this movie.
Speaker 2: And some legislators have to grow some backbone and go
Speaker 2: to the Senate president and the House Speaker and say, hey, look,
Speaker 2: you know, the people have spoken. Members in my district
Speaker 2: have spoken, and this could become a huge campaign issue
Speaker 2: the next time two years from now, if indeed the people,
Speaker 2: the will of the people is overridden. My guest is
Speaker 2: State Auditor Diana Desauglio, who is doing a great job,
Speaker 2: and it's this is not a partisan issue, this is
Speaker 2: this is what the people want seventy two percent of
Speaker 2: the people say, let's audit the state legislature. Let's get
Speaker 2: it done. And by the way, if Senate, if the Speaker,
Speaker 2: Speaker Mariano, or if the Senate President Karen Spilker, Senate
Speaker 2: President Spilker would like to come on to the program
Speaker 2: UH next week sometime and tell us why their position
Speaker 2: is correct, they would be more than welcome. And if
Speaker 2: they'd love to come on with the State Auditor, that
Speaker 2: would even be better. That would be really fun. But
Speaker 2: they won't. I guarantee you they won't. We'll take a break.
Speaker 2: Here's the number six one seven, ten thirty six one
Speaker 2: seven nine three one ten thirty. This is about the
Speaker 2: way your money is being spent at the legislature.
Speaker 1: UH.
Speaker 2: The uditor wants to find out how it's being spent
Speaker 2: and is it being spent properly? UH, because frankly, we
Speaker 2: have a lot of people in need here in the Commonwealth,
Speaker 2: and we want to make sure the money goes to
Speaker 2: the people and the programs that are needed, UH, and
Speaker 2: not to to particular little programs that maybe the legislature
Speaker 2: doesn't really want to have people see the light of day.
Speaker 2: That's what this is all about back on Nightside. My
Speaker 2: name is Dan Ray. Light these lines up six point
Speaker 2: seven four ten thirty. This is an important issue. Back
Speaker 2: on Nightside. Now back to Dan Ray live from the
Speaker 2: Window World Nightside.
Speaker 3: Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Where are the Window World studio wheel, which, of course
Speaker 2: is right, The windows are here in the background. Folks,
Speaker 2: trust me on that. We're delighted to be with the
Speaker 2: state of Auto of the Comma of Massachusetts dying in Dessaugliel.
Speaker 2: Before we go to phone calls, which we will go to,
Speaker 2: and I want to get to as many as we
Speaker 2: possibly can, Madam Auditor. It seems to me what the
Speaker 2: legislature would like to do. They would love to draw
Speaker 2: you into a lawsuit so this whole issue can be
Speaker 2: tied up in a court of law for you know,
Speaker 2: two or three years, or they would like to when
Speaker 2: they convene in January, try to pass some sort of
Speaker 2: bill which overrides what the people have voted for. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I actually, well, no, no, I don't think you're far Often.
Speaker 3: I think the reality is is that, you know, I
Speaker 3: would love to be able to adjudicate this matter in
Speaker 3: a court of law, but I've already tried to sue
Speaker 3: the legislature. The Attorney General blocked my access to a
Speaker 3: court for my constitutionally guaranteed in partial hearing, and you know,
Speaker 3: that was very unfortunate, and I really wanted to be
Speaker 3: able to adjudicate this matter and resolve this issue at
Speaker 3: a court of law before it was necessary to do
Speaker 3: something like take it to the ballot. The ballot was
Speaker 3: a lot of hard work.
Speaker 4: A lot of.
Speaker 3: People had to invest a lot of hours across Massachusetts
Speaker 3: collecting signatures, campaigning, raising donations. It was a lot of work.
Speaker 3: It was one of the hardest things I've ever done,
Speaker 3: and then I think a lot of people that worked
Speaker 3: on have ever done. But we did it right. The
Speaker 3: reason why we had to do it, though, is because
Speaker 3: of the legislature's refusal essentially to want to meet us
Speaker 3: in court, the AG's refusal to allow us access to court.
Speaker 3: So I actually think that legislators are scared to go
Speaker 3: to a court of law, that their arguments are completely ridiculous.
Speaker 3: They have said that they believe it's unconstitutional for the
Speaker 3: Office of State Auditor to conduct an audit of the
Speaker 3: state legislature, and this is being said. Then while they
Speaker 3: simultaneously themselves conduct audits of the executive branch agencies. What
Speaker 3: they have said is an audit for thee but not
Speaker 3: for me. They can audit all the executive branch agencies
Speaker 3: and they do so with their post audit and overscity
Speaker 3: that literally has subpoena authority over the executive brand government.
Speaker 3: But yet they claim that there's some constitutional separation of
Speaker 3: powers that's one directional and only matters when the executive
Speaker 3: branch tries to conduct an audit back. They want to
Speaker 3: completely get out of the system of checks and balance
Speaker 3: zero accountability, because it's not enough that they're exempt from
Speaker 3: the public records law. It's not enough that they're exempt
Speaker 3: from open meeting laws. It's not enough that they're the
Speaker 3: most powerful politicians in Massachusetts and get to make decisions
Speaker 3: about all of our tax dollars under a cloak of
Speaker 3: darkness in the middle of the night, with zero accountability.
Speaker 3: They want more power. So what they are doing is
Speaker 3: they are trying to ensure that there is zero accountability
Speaker 3: regarding what their actions are regarding the use of our
Speaker 3: tax dollars. And I don't think that they want to
Speaker 3: go to court to discuss this matter. I think that
Speaker 3: they've been hiding from court. And I think that unfortunately,
Speaker 3: Thettorney general decision to refuse to give us access to
Speaker 3: court with something that legislators actually agreed with. I think
Speaker 3: that they just are hoping that the Attorney General blocks
Speaker 3: our access to the court system again and that they
Speaker 3: can continue to get away with, you know, refusing to
Speaker 3: abide by the law. And that's why I need everybody's
Speaker 3: help to please call all of our elected officials on
Speaker 3: Beacon Hell, especially our Attorney General and our governor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, let me take.
Speaker 2: A suggestion if I could.
Speaker 1: Sure.
Speaker 2: I am not your lawyer. However, I'm stunned that the
Speaker 2: Attorney General, Andrea Campbell, would prevent you, as the state auditor,
Speaker 2: from basically attempting to win and enforce the ballot initiative
Speaker 2: that you, the voters of Massachusetts approved on November fifth,
Speaker 2: Number one, number two. There's a way in which if
Speaker 2: Andrea Campbell is unwilling to represent you in your capacity
Speaker 2: as state auditor, what would prevent you from going to
Speaker 2: the Supreme Court State Supreme Court as a citizen, not
Speaker 2: as the state auditor, but basically you and maybe I
Speaker 2: don't know, a small group of other citizens, almost the
Speaker 2: equivalent of a civil class action suit. There is a
Speaker 2: way to get to the state Supreme Court quickly. It's
Speaker 2: called what they call the gatekeeper statue. Most lawyers in
Speaker 2: Massachusetts who you would talk to, would know of what
Speaker 2: I speak. That would get you before a single justice
Speaker 2: very quickly.
Speaker 3: And I really appreciate that, Dan, Yeah, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 3: I actually just wanted to jump in because you're on
Speaker 3: the right track there. But I will say it's not
Speaker 3: me who would be doing that. I actually have already
Speaker 3: been told that should be Attorney General not step in
Speaker 3: to require compliance with the people's audit that was just
Speaker 3: voted for that. There are organizations who are strongly considering
Speaker 3: filing a lawsuit against the Commonwealth to demand compliance. Now, now, again,
Speaker 3: what a shame, What a shame that would be.
Speaker 2: Well, I wouldn't file it. Well, I would file it
Speaker 2: against the Speaker and the Senate President in their in
Speaker 2: their capacities as speakers, as Speaker and Senate President, and
Speaker 2: also in their individual capacities as citizens of the Commonwealth.
Speaker 2: And again there is this process called a gatekeeper statute,
Speaker 2: which basically can streamline and get this into court very quickly,
Speaker 2: and I just emphasized that you may want to at
Speaker 2: least have some lawyers look at it. Why Andrea Campbell
Speaker 2: would side with the legislature against a fellow constitutional officer,
Speaker 2: who are all really members of the executive branch as
Speaker 2: it were. You're executives, You're not a member of the governors,
Speaker 2: and the governors should join you as well. Anyway, let
Speaker 2: me do this. I'm just throwing that out at that
Speaker 2: idea to you because I know enough about the law
Speaker 2: to be dangerous here.
Speaker 3: And I'm yeah, and Dan, honestly, you're actually stating what
Speaker 3: a lot of people have been saying. And I think,
Speaker 3: you know, it's really important that we do realize as
Speaker 3: elected officials that you know, the reality is is that
Speaker 3: if people do not follow the law, that the Commonwealth
Speaker 3: is opening itself up to lawsuits from outside groups, outside organizations,
Speaker 3: outside individuals, and folks have already stated that that is
Speaker 3: something that's an absolute possibility and that you know, they
Speaker 3: would consider doing that. So it is definitely something that
Speaker 3: is I think should be concerning to the attorneys unknown
Speaker 3: to the legislative leaders, because you know, look, it's time to
Speaker 3: come together, it's time to get this done. It's time
Speaker 3: for the games to stop. This is the law. Now,
Speaker 3: this is a serious issue to violate the law in
Speaker 3: this way. You know, this is not some disagreement about
Speaker 3: some random issue you know that isn't really that big
Speaker 3: of a deal. This is a huge issue of concern
Speaker 3: and it is a really big deal for lawmakers lawmakers
Speaker 3: to violate the law. And it would be an even
Speaker 3: bigger deal if they were violating the law to such
Speaker 3: a capacity. You know that, you know, it actually inspired
Speaker 3: people to sue from outside of our government, to feel
Speaker 3: that they had to sue to get compliance. You know,
Speaker 3: this should be something that's being done anyways.
Speaker 2: It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they're covering
Speaker 2: up things that they don't want the public to be
Speaker 2: aware of. And I would just finish my comment and
Speaker 2: then we're going to go to news and I have
Speaker 2: full lines, Diana. So I think we've got some people
Speaker 2: who are interested. Here, a lot of my friends, brothers
Speaker 2: and sisters at the bar listen to this program, and
Speaker 2: if anyone of you lawyers in Massachusetts who would like
Speaker 2: to provide you with some either some advice, guidance, help
Speaker 2: or direction, and they want to contact me tomorrow. Particularly
Speaker 2: if they're friends of mine, I will put them in
Speaker 2: touch with you so we can maybe anything we can
Speaker 2: do to help you. Diana's what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Dan, I appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 2: I mean, you did the hard work, you walked across
Speaker 2: the state. All you're looking for is a little bit
Speaker 2: of transparency. It's what democracy is all about. The Democrats
Speaker 2: have been talking about democracy now for months, saving democracy.
Speaker 2: The Washington Post. Democracy dies in darkness. There is no
Speaker 2: darker chambers in the state than the House of Representatives
Speaker 2: and the state Senate chambers here in Massachusetts. And I'm
Speaker 2: telling you, and you know as well as I do,
Speaker 2: that they're going to try to run some some additional
Speaker 2: play in early January to override what the voters of
Speaker 2: the Commonwealth are demanding. So let's take a break, get
Speaker 2: a few minutes for news, and I want to get
Speaker 2: right to listeners. And I guarantee you you're going to
Speaker 2: hear support from my audience, which is gonna going to
Speaker 2: bolster your your confidence. And I'm I'm so delighted that many,
Speaker 2: so many people are are chomping to get get to
Speaker 2: phone lines We'll be back with my guest, the state
Speaker 2: unor the Comwealth of Massachusetts. Uh, auditor Diana Desauglia, who
Speaker 2: is doing a great job at the State House. And
Speaker 2: I emphasize she is a Democrat. This is not some
Speaker 2: Republican crying in the darkness. She's supported by by three
Speaker 2: out of four voters in the election of November fifth.
Speaker 2: Back on Nightside after.
Speaker 1: This, it's Night Side with.
Speaker 4: Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: So I guess the state auditor, Madam monitor, Let's go
Speaker 2: to the phones down. Kareine and Lynn. Karine welcome, you're
Speaker 2: all with Diana the State Auditor. Go right ahead.
Speaker 4: Hi, can you hear me?
Speaker 5: Okay, there, we can hear you perfectly.
Speaker 2: Karin, thank you for Is it Corina Korea? How do
Speaker 2: you pronounce it?
Speaker 4: It is Kareene. However, if you chooses a Karan, I say,
Speaker 4: just kick one and go with it, right ahead, kre
Speaker 4: go ahead, all right, Hello State Auditor. Uh, this is ugly,
Speaker 4: oh very nice.
Speaker 6: How are you?
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm wonderful, thank you. And actually, just to get
Speaker 4: it quickly out of the way, a little bit of
Speaker 4: a family member. We are with the vicaros.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, yes.
Speaker 4: Yes, so lovely. To hear you immediately caught my attention
Speaker 4: because I listened to Dan quite often when I'm in
Speaker 4: the car, and that's why AM radio is important as well.
Speaker 2: I got to get you a radio for your house, Caren.
Speaker 4: And I do tell Alexa, but I can't say her
Speaker 4: name too often because she'll turn everything on, you know,
Speaker 4: But just to quickly, I have five or six subjects,
Speaker 4: I won't pick them all. I have called you in
Speaker 4: the past, man, I am an auditor, or was an
Speaker 4: auditor myself for the federal government with the VA, and
Speaker 4: we used to conduct our own internal audits UH for
Speaker 4: what they call vera veterans ectimal resource Allocation because ninety
Speaker 4: percent of funding would come from UH Congress and about
Speaker 4: five percent was actually billing UH for not Medicare. He
Speaker 4: couldn't build for another government agency, but for other you know,
Speaker 4: if they.
Speaker 1: Had want to.
Speaker 2: I want to get you to our topic at hand, he.
Speaker 4: Tell you. So we wouldn't conduct our own internal audits.
Speaker 4: And now what I'm trying what I'm getting from this
Speaker 4: because there was a lot of conversation that both of
Speaker 4: you had, but it sounded like you were saying, there's
Speaker 4: like a unilateral audit that they're conducting already, and that's
Speaker 4: what they're saying, is efficient enough? Is that correct?
Speaker 2: They all audit on them on themselves, the conduct the
Speaker 2: audit on themselves, and what the auditor wants to do
Speaker 2: is to be able to do what she is obligated
Speaker 2: to do constitutionally, as her title suggests, State auditor.
Speaker 4: Now, now, even the what they're doing unilaterally their own audit,
Speaker 4: are they publishing that? Is that available to see? Also?
Speaker 4: And yes, of course I was one of the ones
Speaker 4: who you know, of the seventy two percent that voted yes,
Speaker 4: But is that even published like to see? Is that? Grin?
Speaker 3: Thank you so so much for calling in. I can
Speaker 3: clear up a couple of these things. So essentially what's
Speaker 3: going on is the state legislature has chosen to audit themselves.
Speaker 3: They hire a private firm, and they control the entire
Speaker 3: scope of that audit, which means they decide what they
Speaker 3: allow that audit firm to see. They decide what is
Speaker 3: chosen regarding what is actually audited. So they limit the
Speaker 3: information that they provide to that auditing firm, and then
Speaker 3: they release only what they want to release to the
Speaker 3: general public. That auditing firm has zero right to release
Speaker 3: any information that they find in those documents or anything
Speaker 3: that they're examining without the Speaker of the House or
Speaker 3: the Senate president's approval, because they are privately contracted with
Speaker 3: private vendor, so they have to abide by the rules
Speaker 3: of the Senate and the rules of the House of Representative,
Speaker 3: which means the legislature is essentially auditing themselves. Yes, they
Speaker 3: are hiring someone to do it, but they're controlling every
Speaker 3: aspect of what is looked at and what is released
Speaker 3: to the public, which is precious living. Their last release
Speaker 3: of some sort of a supposed audit was only a
Speaker 3: few pages with very high level information, no financial receipts attached,
Speaker 3: no documentation, nothing regarding any state contracting. So there are
Speaker 3: a lot of concerns that there are potential unlawful behaviors occurring.
Speaker 3: And essentially what has happened is the voters went and
Speaker 3: the voters said that's not sufficient. We want the Office
Speaker 3: of State Auditor to conduct audits of the legislature, just
Speaker 3: like they conduct of every other state entity. Because the
Speaker 3: Auditor's office is the independent voice of the people. It
Speaker 3: is an independently elected position. The people of the Commonwealth
Speaker 3: choose the auditor. That is why, you know, during my campaign,
Speaker 3: I told people I am the people's auditor. I audit
Speaker 3: on behalf of the people. The people are the boss
Speaker 3: of the Auditor's office as a constitutional office. So it's
Speaker 3: really important that those independent audits take place by the
Speaker 3: State Auditor's Office of all the departments and entities of
Speaker 3: the Commonwealth to make sure that there's a system of
Speaker 3: checks and balances and that there is accountability. I hope
Speaker 3: that helps tonight, Karen, and I hope you have a
Speaker 3: great evening.
Speaker 2: We'll call your legislators tomorrow.
Speaker 4: I will, I will. Can I just ask one more thing?
Speaker 5: Will please?
Speaker 2: And I hate to do this year. I'm up on
Speaker 2: my break and I got five other calls behind you.
Speaker 4: Oh. I just wanted to know what did we do
Speaker 4: before the lottery? Where did money come from before that?
Speaker 4: That's all I wanted to ask.
Speaker 5: There is so much sad that one for.
Speaker 2: The next time, because I think they raised taxes. The
Speaker 2: funds from the lottery essentially is an additional revenue source
Speaker 2: that people participate in voluntarily in. About eighty percent of
Speaker 2: it goes back in prizes and twenty percent goes back
Speaker 2: to cities and towns. Thanks Karin, I got to keep
Speaker 2: rolling here. Thank you very much, keep calling this. Coming
Speaker 2: right back on Nightside with State Auditor my guest Diana Desoglio.
Speaker 2: Now back to Dan Ray, live from the Window World
Speaker 2: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio. Here, folks have
Speaker 2: pack lines. The auditor will be staying with us until ten,
Speaker 2: so let's try to move as quickly as we can.
Speaker 2: I want to hear people say that they'll they support
Speaker 2: what she's doing and that she's going to that you
Speaker 2: will be calling your legislators tomorrow or button holding them
Speaker 2: this weekend somewhere in the district dev in Boston, Hey Dev,
Speaker 2: thanks for calling it. You almost stayed. Auditor Diana Dezakio go.
Speaker 3: Right ahead yesterday evening, Thanks for taking my call.
Speaker 4: I wanted to just comment the fact that the voters.
Speaker 3: Voted in a favor of this. My question is what
Speaker 3: are is the legislates you're afraid of?
Speaker 1: This is what this just draws suspicions there in their area.
Speaker 4: I don't understand it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they voted seventy I mean you know that's us.
Speaker 2: That's what's called a big landslide. Do you want to
Speaker 2: give them. Give deb a quick response as to what
Speaker 2: you think they're afraid of. They're afraid of. Transparency is
Speaker 2: what they're afraid of.
Speaker 3: Go ahead, Diana dev thank you. Thank you so much
Speaker 3: Sep for calling in. I really appreciate the question. Look,
Speaker 3: you know, I'll respond to your question with a question.
Speaker 3: If your house is really dirty, do you invite and
Speaker 3: welcome people in? Or is it when your house is
Speaker 3: clean do you invite people in? You invite people in
Speaker 3: when your house is clean. If you have a really
Speaker 3: messy house, you know it's it's not a time when
Speaker 3: you want to invite people in. So frankly, you know,
Speaker 3: the pushback and the vehement opposition is really something to
Speaker 3: be deeply concerned about, because to your point, if there
Speaker 3: is nothing to hide, then open the doors, let the sunlight.
Speaker 3: And you know, we look into every state entity and
Speaker 3: it is very often that we find challenges. That's what
Speaker 3: the Auditor's Office does. We identify challenges so that we
Speaker 3: can promote solutions. When we audited DCF, we did so
Speaker 3: to help protect children and we were able to identify
Speaker 3: challenges for the purposes of making the Department of Children
Speaker 3: and Families work better for children across our communities. When
Speaker 3: we look at MBTA and we audit our state's MBTA,
Speaker 3: we do so to help our transportation system work better.
Speaker 3: And you know, folks know, we need a lot of
Speaker 3: work in that department. So every bit that we can
Speaker 3: do to help by examining areas where we can fill
Speaker 3: gaps in the system, you know, we need to be
Speaker 3: doing that. So if folks are afraid to allow the
Speaker 3: light to shine in and they want to remain in darkness,
Speaker 3: folks need to be concerned about that. If there's nothing
Speaker 3: to hide, then open the doors and let the sunlight in.
Speaker 3: If you didn't do anything wrong on purpose, then you
Speaker 3: should be willing to have the auditor's office look at
Speaker 3: some potential solutions for some of the challenges facing your organization.
Speaker 3: Nobody's perfect. Humans work in organizations, and again, we generally
Speaker 3: find areas of concern wherever we go and conduct audits.
Speaker 3: That's normal. So to refuse an audit really suggests that
Speaker 3: there are some significant challenges, uh, and that there are
Speaker 3: some some some concerns. So you know, folks do need
Speaker 3: to call their legislators. Thank you for the question, Thanks absolutely,
Speaker 3: And I think that I got.
Speaker 2: Three more I'm trying to sneak in here. Deb. I
Speaker 2: really appreciate your supporting this one, but I got to
Speaker 2: get to the other callers. I got to give everybody
Speaker 2: a minute or two.
Speaker 5: Okay, thank you, absolutely, thank you, thank you, Deb.
Speaker 2: I really appreciate your next very thanks to Bill in
Speaker 2: the on the North Show. BILLI, youare next on nice
Speaker 2: side with State Auditor Diana Disgli. You've got to be
Speaker 2: quick from me. Bill. I know you've been waiting a while,
Speaker 2: but I got two behind your career hair.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm going to leave. I'm going to try to
Speaker 1: say two things. Number One, I called the uh my
Speaker 1: state rep. Senators and so forth. I have to say
Speaker 1: to you quite frankly, and the auditor might know better.
Speaker 1: It's virtually a waste of time. What you need, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, is maybe you talked about suing unfortunately, but
Speaker 1: you need to get somebody's attention because they do not care.
Speaker 2: The problem is this, here's the problem power.
Speaker 1: Okay, so let me say it. Let me say it.
Speaker 1: Get the Feds in here, somebody.
Speaker 2: Bill, Bill that I don't know if that happens. Bill,
Speaker 2: You've got to understand the system for the FEDS to
Speaker 2: come in. They have to come in on their own.
Speaker 2: Diana Desauglio doesn't have the standing, nor do I, nor
Speaker 2: do you to call the feds up and say, hey,
Speaker 2: go audit the legislature.
Speaker 1: I want to saying it like that. But you can
Speaker 1: get we have They represent us too. They have a
Speaker 1: right to call whoever you want.
Speaker 2: When you come on my show and say it's a
Speaker 2: waste of time to call the state, the state reps
Speaker 2: and the state senators, you're defeating what my purpose is
Speaker 2: here tonight. I want pressure to go on these state
Speaker 2: reps and these state senators, and I want them to
Speaker 2: go to Mariano and to Spilka and say, look, I'm
Speaker 2: not with you on this. You know this. This is
Speaker 2: that's what we need to do politically.
Speaker 1: Let me give you just one example. Please, let me
Speaker 1: give you one example.
Speaker 2: I'll kind you one minute.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, Thank you, I appreciate it. I have waited
Speaker 1: a while.
Speaker 2: Let's take to other people behind you by the way, bill.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, Okay, I'm gonna make it quick if you
Speaker 1: let me do it.
Speaker 2: Go ahead.
Speaker 1: As an example, you've been in this state a long time.
Speaker 1: I've been here my whole life. Let's go back to
Speaker 1: COVID for a second, that timeline. How serious people are
Speaker 1: on their backs. What did the legislature do? It was
Speaker 1: on the front page of the Herald. I don't know
Speaker 1: about the Globe, probably not, but the Herald they put
Speaker 1: in a well, I think it was a six point
Speaker 1: two raise. Do you remember that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that's not what we're talking about. And a bill.
Speaker 2: You know what you're doing here. You're a guy in
Speaker 2: the locker room who was saying to us, we can't
Speaker 2: beat those guys. Let's stay in the locker room. No,
Speaker 2: stay in the locker room. I don't believe it's stayed
Speaker 2: out of the locker room build up. Appreciate your call.
Speaker 2: Let me go to Paul in Montster. Paul your next
Speaker 2: night's I'm glad.
Speaker 6: Yeah, damn mad a monitor. Thanks thanks for taking the call.
Speaker 6: I'm pressuring our legislatives. It's really the only good option.
Speaker 6: It's still a fascinating issue. It's also a national embarrassment. Now.
Speaker 6: I don't even like ballot questions. You know, you have
Speaker 6: somewhat uninformed voters voting on complex public policy. You have
Speaker 6: campaigns on both sides that build up around these questions.
Speaker 6: I always think I've always thought in a way that
Speaker 6: the Constitution should be changed to do away with ballid questions. Well,
Speaker 6: this whole issue is getting me to rethink that. So
Speaker 6: I got one other and I.
Speaker 2: Think is easily understandable. And seventy two percent of the
Speaker 2: people said let the sunshine in. You're absolutely right, Paul.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing a three almost three quarters
Speaker 6: of the voters to agree on this. I mean, it's
Speaker 6: kind of a no brainer. It's this is a fascinating,
Speaker 6: a fascinating issue, and it is a national embarrassment. But
Speaker 6: I'll look at you. I'll just leave it. I'll leave
Speaker 6: it there. Go take your last caller, and happy holidays everybody.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas, Happy Honka, whatever you celebrate. I appreciate it. Paul,
Speaker 2: you've bet one of the better callers in the night.
Speaker 2: Let me go next to Mike and Newton. Mike, we
Speaker 2: got about a minute for you. I know you've waited
Speaker 2: a long time.
Speaker 5: Go right ahead, that's okay, I can be quick, Hi,
Speaker 5: dav Hey, No, what are they hiding? I think I
Speaker 5: think that raises the red flag as soon as they
Speaker 5: say we don't want it on it.
Speaker 1: What are they hiding?
Speaker 5: It's similar to the Massachusetts State Police. What are they
Speaker 5: hiding about the recruit out there? And it goes on
Speaker 5: and on and on with match Massachusetts government.
Speaker 2: I'm with you totally on both of those counts, On
Speaker 2: both of those counts, Mike, I appreciate it. Please, will
Speaker 2: you call your legislators tomorrow? Uh? And I hope everyone
Speaker 2: in this audience will call the main number at the
Speaker 2: State House. Pretty simple number to remember. It is six
Speaker 2: one seven seven to two two thousand. If you tell
Speaker 2: that person what town you live in, I'll direct you
Speaker 2: to your legislator. Let's overwhelm them with phone calls tomorrow.
Speaker 2: And let's you know, the state audit, who is working
Speaker 2: for everyone here in Massachusetts, certainly for the seventy two percent,
Speaker 2: the twenty eight percent who might have voted the other way,
Speaker 2: probably other people, you know, the relatives of the stuff.
Speaker 2: Legislator says, Thanks Mike, thanks so much.
Speaker 5: Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas to you as well, Diana, thank you, thank you,
Speaker 2: thank you for your efforts in your time. I will
Speaker 2: always fight alongside you. And as I say, when someone
Speaker 2: tells me we can't win, that's like being in a
Speaker 2: in a locker room and saying let's not play the
Speaker 2: game because we can't win. That you lost before you start,
Speaker 2: so I know you agree with me. Let's let's beat him.
Speaker 2: Let's beat them.
Speaker 3: At their own game, you know, Dan, I just want
Speaker 3: to say thanks so much for having me on, and
Speaker 3: thanks to every caller who called in. Let's stay inspired,
Speaker 3: let's stay hopeful, Let's call anyways, let's email anyways. You know,
Speaker 3: Let's make sure that we are lifting our voices and
Speaker 3: standing in unity. You know, I often say this, Dan,
Speaker 3: You talk about how I'm a Democrat and when I
Speaker 3: come on and I join you, you know, and I
Speaker 3: have to say this. It is wonderful to also then
Speaker 3: hear you follow it up with the fact that this
Speaker 3: is not a Democrat or Republican issue. I, as state auditor,
Speaker 3: audit all of these state entities, you know, regardless of
Speaker 3: party affiliation. And the reality is is that this bullet
Speaker 3: question passed only because people were willing to cross party lines,
Speaker 3: work together with one another, and take on the power
Speaker 3: structure up on Beacon Hill, who is for far too
Speaker 3: long gotten away with not just shenanigans, but violating the
Speaker 3: law that they require everybody else to follow. So really,
Speaker 3: It's going to take all of us being consistent, continuing
Speaker 3: to be determined, and continuing to come together, inspiring one another,
Speaker 3: end uplifting one another to do the right thing, to
Speaker 3: make sure that these folks are held accountable. You know,
Speaker 3: we deserve access to how our tax dollars are being spent.
Speaker 4: Not a heavy lift.
Speaker 3: Let's get it done.
Speaker 2: I'm into my ten o'clock news, but I will just
Speaker 2: tell you this, I will have you back anytime. I
Speaker 2: still have a couple of weeks more left on the
Speaker 2: ear in the here. I'm busy in the next two
Speaker 2: weeks and then I start right after the first of
Speaker 2: the year. I'll have you back, and I'll have you
Speaker 2: back soon. Please think.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, everybody, have a great night. Everybody call
Speaker 3: your elected officials. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2: Thanks, Thanks, Diana, appreciate it so much. We're a little
Speaker 2: bit late, we're into the newscast, but it's well worth it.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Rob for that generous generosity of your time.
Speaker 2: Back on night's side, we're going to talk about that
Speaker 2: murder in New York. On the other side,