Massachusetts State Auditor Fights Welfare Fraud

Massachusetts is the only state where the legislature, the courts, and the governor’s office are largely exempt from public-records laws that require transparency. The Boston Herald says that Massachusetts has “the least transparent state government in the U.S.,” prompting the national Society of Professional Journalists to give the Bay State this year’s infamous “Black Hole” award — referring to the difficulty of gleaning any information about the state government’s inner workings.

The situation is so dire that Diana DiZoglio, the elected Democratic state auditor, is taking her party’s legislative leaders to court after she uncovered $12 million in alleged welfare fraud. She notes that the legislature has not been audited since 1922. Evidence of abuses piled up high enough that, in 2024, 72 percent of state voters supported a ballot question to conduct such audits. But the legislature has refused to comply, citing separation of powers, and the state’s attorney general has defended the legislature’s position.

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John Fund

John Fund is National Review’s national-affairs reporter.

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Massachusetts is the only state where the legislature, the courts, and the governor’s office are largely exempt from public-records laws that require transparency. The Boston Herald says that Massachusetts has “the least transparent state government in the U.S.,” prompting the national Society of Professional Journalists to give the Bay State this year’s infamous “Black Hole” award — referring to the difficulty of gleaning any information about the state government’s inner workings.

The situation is so dire that Diana DiZoglio, the elected Democratic state auditor, is taking her party’s legislative leaders to court after she uncovered $12 million in alleged welfare fraud. She notes that the legislature has not been audited since 1922. Evidence of abuses piled up high enough that, in 2024, 72 percent of state voters supported a ballot question to conduct such audits. But the legislature has refused to comply, citing separation of powers, and the state’s attorney general has defended the legislature’s position.