2-08-2026 4:26am

Beacon Hill Roll Call

Alan Earls Editor

If you have any questions about this week's report, e-mail us at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com or call us at (617) 720-1562.

Volume 51 - Report No. 7

February 2-6, 2026

By Bob Katzen

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THE HOUSE AND SENATE: The heat was turned up last week on the more than 1-year debate on Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s right to audit the House of Representatives. In the November 2024 election, voters approved Ballot Question 1 asking them if they favor allowing the state auditor to audit the Legislature. The question passed overwhelmingly by 72 percent of the vote. It has now been 15 months since the voters approved the audit but a current audit has yet to take place.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Auditor Diana DiZoglio have been at loggerheads about the issue, as DiZoglio has repeatedly requested that Campbell represent her in suing the House or allow DiZoglio to hire an outside lawyer to sue the House for not complying with her attempted audit. Campbell contends that she needs more information from DiZoglio to move forward on either option -- telling "Boston Public Radio" co-hosts Margery Eagan and Jim Braude, "I hope the auditor stops the standoff." Campbell maintains that she is still awaiting answers to questions about the major legal issues of the case, including what DiZoglio believes she can and cannot audit, who she would sue and what the legal claim would be.

DiZoglio responded, "She cannot continue to claim that my office hasn’t given her what she needs yet refuse to sue me. She has the power to sue both me and the Legislature, right now, but refuses to do either. These are all stall tactics giving the Legislature more time to destroy documents and records. What we are all witnessing right before our eyes is nothing short of public corruption. Our attorney general has conspired with the speaker and Senate president to secure a very large budget increase for herself as a reward for this cover up. It’s beyond disgraceful."

DiZoglio continued, “It's incumbent upon the Legislature to ensure evidence is produced to demonstrate that they are not destroying records" and said audits of other entities have shown that documents and records have been either lost or destroyed throughout state government. “The Convention Center Authority and the Settlements audits are the two most salient examples of where records were either lost, destroyed or not maintained in accordance with public records laws by multiple state agencies.” DiZoglio sent Beacon Hill Roll Call a copy of those audits. See those audits at:

https://www.mass.gov/audit/audit-of-the-massachusetts-convention-center…

https://www.mass.gov/audit/audit-of-settlement-agreements-and-confident…

Addressing DiZoglio's corruption allegation, Vivas pointed to April 2025 when Mariano said that the increase in funding for the attorney general's budget was designed to ensure that the attorney general's office "can continue to push back against any unconstitutional actions from the Trump administration and to protect our residents."

Asked why she believes there's conspiracy between the Legislature and Campbell, despite Mariano's reasoning for the budget increase, DiZoglio said, "The attorney general is a close political friend and ally with the top legislators responsible for this lawbreaking and received an unprecedented 12 percent budget increase from those same lawbreaking legislators."

Spokespersons for House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) and Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) attacked DiZoglio's claims.

“The auditor’s baseless claims are indicative of her biases towards the Legislature and are an attempted distraction from the unconstitutionality of her proposed audit," said Mariano spokesperson Ana Vivas. "The House is already audited every year by an independent auditing firm, and the final report for each year is posted to the Legislature’s website."

See the fiscal 2023 audit, which is the latest one available at: https://malegislature.gov/ClerksOffice/House/Audit.

Vivas added that the increase in funding for the attorney general's budget was designed to ensure that the attorney general's office "can continue to push back against any unconstitutional actions from the Trump administration and to protect our residents.”

DiZoglio told Beacon Hill Roll Call, “The speaker is essentially auditing himself by hiring a private vendor, he can control who can reveal only what he allows and not what taxpayers voted for and deserve. Voters came out in droves to demand that the Office of the State Auditor provide true independent oversight that is sorely needed with respect to the secret dealings that occur using our taxpayer money. The speaker’s lawbreaking undermines democracy plain and simple.”

Spilka spokesperson Gray Milkowski called DiZoglio’s allegations "clickbait claims" that he said are distracting the Senate from its important work fighting the Trump administration on many fronts. He argued that "independent experts" have offered public testimony suggesting another branch of government auditing the Legislature raises constitutional concerns and said DiZoglio "has offered no legal analysis or evidence to the contrary."

DiZoglio responded, “Mr. Speaker believes the Constitution serves to protect the politicians. I’m here to say that our Constitution exists instead to protect the people from tyrannical politicians. It’s called checks and balances. And 72 percent of voters agreed with me on that front. This debate is over, and the speaker and Senate president lost to the people by popular vote on this issue. Their vehement opposition to, and disrespect for, their own constituents’ decision on this matter doesn’t change the law.”

Paul Craney, executive director of the Mass Fiscal Alliance commented, "Speaker Ron Mariano is refusing to accept the results of an election, He is in violation of the voter-approved law. The attorney general needs to enforce the voter-approved law. This level of disregard is completely unacceptable and harms our democratic process. The Massachusetts Statehouse has a broken legislative process and a legislature that refuses to follow the law."

"Readers should look at the report Speaker Mariano touts,” said Aaron Singer, the producer and director of the documentary “Shadows on the Hill.” “The most recent document is for fiscal year 2023, and it’s eight lines of financial totals. What company would give its shareholders eight lines explaining how it spent $50 million?"

"We appreciate the speaker's attention to financial transparency, but the people of Massachusetts didn't vote for a private firm contracted by the speaker's office to perform a surface-level audit of the Legislature,” said Scotia Hille, executive director of Act on Mass. “Ironically, that contract itself is another taxpayer-funded invoice we'll never see, chosen by criteria we'll never know. The people voted for a full, comprehensive audit by our independently-elected state auditor, who is responsible to the public."

DiZoglio did indeed conduct an audit of the Legislature in October 2024 before the ballot question was approved. See the audit at: https://www.mass.gov/audit/audit-of-the-massachusetts-general-court-oct…

The audit covered the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022. In a letter to Mariano and Spilka that accompanied the audit, DiZoglio wrote, “While this audit was conducted according to the professional standards of the government auditing profession, I wanted to share with you my deep concern about your unwillingness to cooperate with our office to help promote governmental transparency and identify ways to improve service to the people of the commonwealth via an audit of the State Legislature. Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of our democracy and enable the people to participate in government as intended in our Constitution. It is my hope that we can return to the historical practice of this office auditing the Legislature, as has been the case for the vast majority of the history of this office.”

In the letter, DiZoglio’s office highlighted some of the results:

“Among the audit’s findings was that the Senate and House did not ensure their annual financial audits were completed, filed with required recipients, including the Auditor’s Office or made available timely to the public, in accordance with their own rules. The audit found the Senate and House processes for the procurement of goods and services, particularly financial auditing services, lack transparency, as detailed procurement information is not made available to the public. If the Senate and House do not have transparent processes for the procurement of goods and services, then they limit the public’s ability to hold the Legislature accountable.

The audit found that, when compared to a sample of other states’ legislative websites, the Massachusetts legislative website lacks apparent content and ease of site navigation regarding pending and enacted legislation. If the Legislature does not work to improve its website to address these issues, it hinders the public’s ability to understand and engage in the legislative process and hold the Legislature accountable for ensuring an equitable mode of making laws.

Also noted in the audit is that Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to not have a legislative services bureau or equivalent to provide legislative services to all members of the Legislature. The absence of a legislative services bureau or equivalent appears to limit the Legislature’s ability to provide comprehensive legislative services to all members, thereby potentially adversely impacting individual members’ ability to best represent their constituents.

In addition to these objectives, the audit identified related issues which merit attention, including that the Senate and House lack detail and transparency regarding factors considered in appointing or nominating members to committees, committee chair positions or chamber leadership positions. This limits the public’s ability to hold the Legislature accountable for ensuring an equitable mode of making laws in accordance with the preamble of the Massachusetts Constitution and the equitable application of policies and procedures to all members and staff.”

In January 2025, the Legislature changed its operating rules and made some changes that addressed some, but not all, of the issues the audit cites.

HOW LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES VOTED IN FEBRUARY 2025, WHEN THE HOUSE REJECTED AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD ALLOW DIZOGLIO TO AUDIT THE HOUSE (H 2024)

This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call looks back to February 2025 when the House 24-127, three months after voters approved the audit, rejected an amendment that would require DiZoglio to conduct an annual audit of the House. The amendment would replace a current House rule that the state auditor recommends a firm to conduct an annual audit of the House and the business manager of the House would hire that firm.

During debate in February 2025, amendment sponsor Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading) argued, “This amendment would honor the will of the voters by allowing the state auditor to conduct these annual audits of the House in compliance with Question 1.”

“Every city and town in the commonwealth voted for this question to be the law,” said Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica). “Unfortunately, essentially on party lines, the House Democrats defeated the amendment and once again refused to comply with the will of the voters. Beacon Hill Democrats need to end this inter-governmental feud and finally respect the voters and give them the transparency they demand and deserve.”

Rep. Michael Day (D-Stoneham) said this new rule would violate the separation of power in the constitution. He noted that Article 30 says the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, and the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers.

Day also noted that the House rule that requires the House to hire a firm recommended by the state auditor is sufficient.

(A “Yes” vote is for the amendment requiring the state auditor to conduct an annual audit. A “No” vote is against the amendment.)

Rep. Jeffrey Roy No

ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL

CHANGE ARCHAIC LANGUAGE REFERRING TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (S 2594) - The Senate approved and sent to the House a new version of a bill that would modernize and remove archaic language in state laws to reflect the evolution of terminology relating to persons with disabilities. The House and Senate had already approved different versions of the measure, and this new third version, drafted by the Senate, now goes to the House for consideration.

Changes include replacing “handicapped persons” with “persons with disabilities;” replacing “the mentally retarded” with “persons with an intellectual disability;” replacing “retarded children” with “children with an intellectual disability;” and replacing “disabled American veterans” with “American veterans with disabilities.”

“Several years ago, a friend told me how disrespected she felt when people called her ‘handicapped,’” said Senate sponsor Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville). “We realized there are many state laws that use that outdated language, as well as words like ‘retardation.’ When people realized how offensive the ‘R’ word is, the Department of Mental Retardation was renamed the Department of Developmental Services. So, I filed [this] bill to replace [other] words from state law and use more respectful terminology. Language is not stagnant. It changes as needs, awareness and times change. It is essential that we keep up with these changes. And, as a commonwealth, we are overdue in making those changes.”

LOCKSMITHS (H 1562) -The House gave initial approval to legislation that would require any locksmith hired by a tenant to change locks on a rental property, to make a good faith effort to determine whether a landlord has received notice of the request. The locksmith would also be required to determine if the rental agreement requires that the owner retain a key to the leased residential premises; and if so, the locksmith would be required to make a good faith effort to provide a key to the new locks to the owner within two business days of the locks being changed.

Supporters said that in the event of a fire, a bursting pipe or a gas leak, seconds matter. If a landlord has an old key that no longer works, they may have to break down a door to prevent property damage or save lives.

“This issue was called to my attention by a Franklin landlord who was locked out of her property after the tenant had the locks changed,” said sponsor Rep. Jeff Roy (D-Franklin). "This legislation ensures that a landlord’s fundamental right to emergency access and property oversight is protected by requiring locksmiths to verify notice before altering a rental unit. By mandating that owners receive a duplicate key within two business days, the bill prevents dangerous delays during maintenance crises or life-safety emergencies. Ultimately, it fosters transparency between tenants and owners while preserving the integrity of the lease agreement and the security of the physical asset."

PROTECT PETS DURING EMERGENCIES (H 1559) – The House gave initial approval to a proposal that would make major changes in laws about pets in homes, apartments, hotels and shelters across the state during a state of emergency to allow owners of pets to remain safely housed and not be formally removed from housing due to their pets.

The bill would prohibit a landlord from “initiating action to evict any person from a residential dwelling unit who has a pet without written permission based solely on the presence of the pet until one year after a state of emergency, unless the presence of pets is causing harm to the safety of other residents.”

Other provisions include prohibiting a hotel from unreasonably refusing to allow pets into a hotel during a state of emergency, unless the pet has demonstrated noise and safety concerns; prohibiting condominium associations from discriminating against owners or renters by banning certain types of dogs based on breed, size, weight or appearance; establishing a program of pet ownership by residents of state-aided public housing; allowing landlords to require a tenant to pay additional rent for “common household pets” but limiting the amount of the additional rent charged for each household pet to not more than 1 percent of the first full month’s rent charged to the tenant; prohibiting landlords from charging additional rent for a service or assistance animal required by a tenant with a disability as a reasonable accommodation under state or federal law; and prohibiting an insurance company from refusing to offer or renew insurance to homeowners or renters or from imposing an increased premium or rate of a policy based on a specific breed of dog owned on the property.

Supporters say that pets are very important to their owners and argue that these new laws would be fair to the pets, owners and landlords while also protecting public safety.

Reps. Dave Rogers (D-Cambridge) and Samantha Montaño (D-Boston), co-sponsors of the proposal, did not respond to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call to comment on the bill and its passage.

HOME REPAIRS (H 1271) – The House gave initial approval to a measure that would prohibit homeowner insurance companies from including in a policy a provision requiring an insured homeowner to complete a repair prior to the release of funds estimated by the insurer for the cost of repair.

Supporters said that this is a pro-consumer bill that will help homeowners because many insurance companies pay the claim in stages, not all at once. They noted that some homeowners are required to pay the repair company faster than the insurance company pays the homeowner and cannot afford to pay the repair company out of their own pocket and then wait for the insurance company to reimburse them.

Rep. Jim Murphy (D-Weymouth), the sponsor of the bill, did not respond to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call to comment on the bill and its passage.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

“Now, Therefore, I, Maura T. Healey, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim Friday, February 6th through Sunday, February 8th, 2026 to be New England Patriots Appreciation Weekend.”

---Gov. Maura Healey in an official proclamation to celebrate the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl.

"We're building a mass movement here in Massachusetts — one that shows up in the streets, not only at the ballot box. This official recognition gives working people a political home, and it's just the beginning. Leading up to November and beyond, Joe Tache's U.S. Senate campaign will show Massachusetts what a working-class party looks like in action."

---Ben Gaudiosi, spokesperson for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, announcing that the party has officially been recognized as a political designation in Massachusetts.

“At a time when so many families are struggling to put food on the table, it is an outrage to hear that taxpayer dollars meant to support such a vital safety net program are going to individuals who don’t qualify for or deserve assistance. Even more disturbing is how lackadaisical the Healey Administration’s response has been since it learned of this scheme.”

---House GOP Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) on U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley announcing charges against four Massachusetts residents for SNAP fraud.

“Cultural districts not only draw people in, but they also create the conditions for communities to thrive. Through the Massachusetts Cultural Districts Initiative, we recognize the essential role these districts play in strengthening local economies, animating public spaces and creating places where people feel connected, welcome and inspired.”

---David Slatery, Acting Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council, announcing an $870,000 grant that will award 58 state-designated cultural districts with a $15,000 grant in support of local entities that galvanize economic activity and expand access to arts and culture in communities across the state.

HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION?

Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts.

Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.

During the week of February 2-6, the House met for a total of 28 minutes and the Senate met for a total of 37 minutes.

Mon. Feb. 2 House 11:00 a.m. to 11:13 a.m.

Senate 11:04 a.m. to 11:13 a.m.

Tues. Feb. 3 No House session.

No Senate session.

Wed. Feb. 4 No House session.

No Senate session.

Thurs. Feb. 5 House 11:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Senate 11:22 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.

Fri. Feb. 6 No House session.

No Senate session.

Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com