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Massachusetts Senate president says state auditor is acting like President Trump

Massachusetts Senate president on efforts to audit legislature
Massachusetts Senate president on efforts to audit legislature 09:33

BOSTON – The ongoing dispute between state auditor Diana DiZoglio and legislative leaders in Massachusetts prompted one Democrat to suggest a fellow member of the state party is acting like President Donald Trump.

In the wake of overwhelming voter support for last fall's ballot question authorizing DiZoglio to audit the legislature, the auditor has been meeting resistance from legislative leaders.

Members of a Senate subcommittee are scheduled to meet with the auditor this week to discuss the situation, a meeting DiZoglio characterized last week as a reiteration of "their rationale for breaking the law."

Massachusetts Senate president on audit

In response to that remark, Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) pushed back hard during an interview on the weekend edition of "Keller At Large," drawing a comparison between DiZoglio's moves and the Trump administration's recent efforts to override Congressional appropriations.

"I'm getting calls by veterans concerned about their critical services with the potential cuts on the federal level...from parents whose kids have cancer, mothers whose parent is in a nursing home. They're all concerned over this takeover of the Congress's role. If people are concerned about Trump doing this, they should be similarly concerned about the auditor trying to ignore [the] separation of powers in our constitution," Spilka said.

Sen. President Karen Spilka

And Spilka also criticized the premise promoted by DiZoglio that the legislature needs to be audited over and above the financial reporting they already do because they have something to hide.

"I am not against letting people know what's going on," Spilka said. "Everything from our salaries to our invoices to our services to our paper clips to everything is online.... People can watch the sessions online. We tape them. They can watch past sessions. We are working for even more transparency because I want people to know what we do. I'm really proud of what the Senate does."

Spilka also discussed the state of the Massachusetts economy, the ongoing budget process and recent proposals for new taxes in the interview, which you can watch in its entirety here.

Join WBZ-TV every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. for Boston's longest-running public affairs interview program.

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