Beacon Hill News

Auditor DiZoglio Pushes Back on AG’s Audit Dispute Intervention

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By Katie Castellani

Auditor Diana DiZoglio is once again asking for the court’s permission to hire her own legal representation. This time, it’s to secure defense to dispute the attorney general’s motion to quash DiZoglio’s lawsuit against legislative leaders. On Feb. 19, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office filed a motion to strike DiZoglio’s lawsuit that seeks to compel lawmakers to comply with a 2024 voter law authorizing her office to audit the Legislature and to allow for a special assistant attorney general to represent her office. Campbell was granted permission to intervene in DiZoglio’s lawsuit as a defendant alongside House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka and the House and Senate clerks.

Beacon Hill News

House Tees Up Sprawling Energy Package that Would Cut $1B from Mass Save

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by Jordan Wolman, CommonWealth Beacon
February 24, 2026
MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE DEMOCRATS ARE preparing to advance on Thursday a sweeping energy bill, Beacon Hill’s long-awaited legislative response to a clamoring for action from residents to tame soaring electric and gas prices. Lawmakers are set to vote on legislation that would slash $1 billion from Mass Save, the state’s energy efficiency initiative that offers home weatherization and heat pump installations at low or no cost. The program has been caught up in the state’s affordability crisis because it’s funded by a charge on utility bills. And in a further sign of just how far out of favor the program has fallen, the package put forth by House Democratic leadership would require the inspector general to conduct a review of Mass Save by July 1, 2027, according to a bill summary obtained by CommonWealth Beacon. House Ways and Means chair Aaron Michlewitz said in an interview that President Trump’s moves to halt offshore wind permits and slash tax credits for electric vehicles and energy efficiency programs is forcing ratepayers in Massachusetts to shoulder too much of the financial burden for the clean energy transition.

Beacon Hill News

AG Campbell Moves to Strike Audit Lawsuit, Cites ‘Gatekeeper’ Role

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By Colin A. Young

Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office moved last week to strike Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s lawsuit against legislative leaders, arguing that her office is the only legal “gatekeeper” that decides if or when disputes between branches of government require the court’s involvement. DiZoglio brought the long-simmering issue to the state’s highest court this month by asking a single Supreme Judicial Court justice to grant her permission to hire her own legal representation through the appointment of a special assistant attorney general. Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt on Friday allowed Campbell’s office to intervene in DiZoglio’s suit as a defendant alongside House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka and the House and Senate clerks, according to court records. Campbell’s office also filed a motion last week to strike DiZoglio’s complaint, and that remains under the justice’s advisement. “By statute, the attorney general is a gatekeeper empowered to determine when, if ever, the Commonwealth’s intragovernmental legal disputes require judicial resolution…There would be no gate at all were mere disagreement with the attorney general sufficient basis for a dissenting state official to initiate a lawsuit,” Campbell’s office wrote.

Beacon Hill News

Vargas’s PROTECT Act to be Aired at ‘Hybrid Public Forum’ Thursday

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A public forum is planned Thursday at the State House on Haverhill Rep. Andy X. Vargas’s PROTECT Act, which would place limits on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the state. Thursday’s hearing, however, involves only members of the state House of Representatives and not their Senate counterparts on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. Vargas, chairman of the Legislature’s Black and Latino Caucus recently participated in a discussion led by Congresswoman Lori Trahan in Haverhill following the ICE shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. “Keep people safe, uphold the Constitution and make sure our public institutions are places that people can trust,” Vargas said in January of the bill’s purposes. As WHAV previously reported, the bill restricts police from asking about a person’s immigration status, requires written support from a judge if it is important to prove a state crime, restricts officers or employees of a law enforcement agency from sharing non-public personal information or giving advance notice of a person’s release if is timed to allow federal civil immigration enforcement action and bans future creation or renewal of existing agreements that allow local police to carry out federal immigration officers’ responsibilities.

Beacon Hill News

Former State Rep. Matias to Become State’s Housing Secretary

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Juana B. Matias, a former state representative for Lawrence and Methuen, is taking over as Gov. Maura Healey’s housing secretary. Matias, who served as U.S. Housing and Urban Development regional administrator under President Joe Biden, succeeds Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. Augustus was named CEO of UniBank, the largest bank based in Central Massachusetts. “Juana brings with her a deep understanding of housing policy from her time as HUD regional administrator and a longtime commitment to Massachusetts. We’re excited to further our housing agenda and look forward to working with Juana to meet this moment,” said Healey.

Beacon Hill News

Finegold Co-Hosts Overview Briefing on Cryptocurrency and Policy Thoughts

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Sen. Barry R. Finegold recently co-hosted a Crypto Day last week at the State House with a panel that provided an overview of cryptocurrency and its emerging uses and policy considerations for state lawmakers. Finegold hosted “What The Crypto?” with Reps. Christopher J. Worrell and Kate Lipper-Garabedian, chairwoman of the House Committee on Ethics. “With emerging financial technologies continuing to grow, legislators need to remain mindful of opportunities and risks to the public while prioritizing their well-being and financial safety,” Finegold said in a statement. This event included a panel discussion with former Sen. Eric P. Lesser and representatives from the Satoshi Action Fund, a nonprofit that advocates, according to its website, to “ensure that Bitcoin is adopted so all Americans have the opportunity to benefit from this technology.”

Satoshi Action Fund CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Porter said in a statement, “we work with lawmakers to ensure that emerging technologies like Bitcoin and digital assets can benefit states’ economies, create jobs and foster innovation.

Beacon Hill News

Letter Names Three Attorneys Who Could Lead Legislative Audit Case

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Auditor’s Office Says Firm Got Ethics Commission Guidance on Boundaries for SAAGS Paid For By Guv Candidate
By Sam Drysdale

As Auditor Diana DiZoglio sues legislative leaders to comply with a voter-approved audit law, her office is also seeking approval to bring on a trio of veteran litigators funded by a Republican gubernatorial candidate to carry the case. In a Jan. 26 letter to the Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, Deputy Auditor and General Counsel Michael Leung-Tat asked that George Vien, Nicholas Ramacher and Pietro Conte of the Boston firm Donnelly, Conroy & Gelhaar be appointed as special assistant attorneys general (SAAG) to represent the auditor’s office in its dispute with the Legislature. Republican candidate for governor Mike Minogue, who last month gave the Republican State Committee $100,000, offered to sponsor their services. The request for court authorization for SAAG appointments is pending before a Supreme Judicial Court Judge Frank Gaziano as part of DiZoglio’s broader petition that the court has docketed as a “separation of powers” case.

Beacon Hill News

Podcast Part 1: Auditor DiZoglio Faces New Challenge in Audit Fight

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State Auditor Diana DiZoglio faces a new challenge in her battle to audit the state Legislature—the state’s judicial system. “The courts decided on the heels of the passage of Question 1 to audit the Legislature, that passed by 72%, the courts decided that for the first time ever that we know of, that they are just not going to participate in audits anymore by our office either,” DiZoglio told listeners of WHAV last Thursday, during an appearance on “Win for Breakfast.”

DiZoglio, a Methuen Democrat, has been locked in a three-year battle with legislative leaders and state Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell over her initiative to undertake an administrative audit of the legislature. Legislators opposing DiZoglio argue an audit of the Legislature by another state agency violates the separation of powers clause in the state Constitution. Instead, they propose hiring of an outside audit firm. In a wide-ranging interview with WHAV host Win Damon, DiZoglio outlined her new strategy for breaking the deadlock with legislative leaders and the state’s top judge.