We must work with auditor to bring the issue to voters

Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky  |  CommonWealth Magazine

AS SURVIVORS of workplace sexual harassment who lead an organization dedicated to eradicating workplace toxicity, we know the pernicious effects of sweeping bad behavior under the rug.

It may be one of the most damaging tacks to take when it comes to problematic work environments. Only those with a reason to keep something hidden oppose transparency in their workplace, whether they lead a private company or a government body.

That is why it is so disappointing that the leaders of the Massachusetts Legislature have so forcefully pushed back against an audit by the constitutional officer administering such reviews, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio.

In her role, DiZoglio is charged with conducting performance audits of state government to ensure that it is serving the taxpayers and its constituents. The last legislative audit was performed in 1922. But this time around, the state’s Legislature has claimed it is exempt from this type of audit, and the House Speaker and Senate President are standing by that interpretation of the law.

It raises one obvious question: just what do these elected officials have to hide? It stands to reason that any workplace that is pleased with its performance or just wants to improve would be open to an audit – especially an entity that is elected by the people it serves. It is time, for instance, that the Legislature opens its books so that the public can finally see how much taxpayer money has been spent to silence survivors of toxic behavior or to determine whether sexual harassment training is being properly administered.

In 2020, we went to Beacon Hill to support bipartisan legislation that sought to shine a light on which public entities were using non-disclosure agreements to silence survivors of misconduct. Today, we support the auditor in her pursuit of finding out how survivors are being silenced by taxpayer-funded policies. Thanks to the Legislature’s intransigence, DiZoglio must now spend resources gathering 75,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to reiterate that the legislative branch is not immune from being audited by the constitutional officer entrusted with determining how state entities spend their money. Any resident of the Commonwealth who cares about accountability should be outraged that it has come to this and must work with DiZoglio to get this question on the ballot.

The more hoops the Legislature forces the auditor to jump through, the more voters in the Commonwealth should wonder why its leaders are going to such great lengths to avoid transparency.

John Winthrop, one of the earliest governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, likened it to scripture’s “city upon a hill.” The full quotation that Winthrop drew from is fitting: “A city on a hill cannot be hid.”

The inner workings of the Legislature should not be hidden from Massachusetts taxpayers either. If the Legislature will not be transparent with the people it serves, the people must support a ballot initiative to find out what it is legislative leaders are working so hard to hide.

Gretchen Carlson is a journalist, author and advocate whose actions against workplace harassment at Fox News helped pave the way for the global #MeToo movement.

Julie Roginsky is a political and public relations consultant who sued Fox News for sexual harassment and retaliation. Since leaving Fox News, Carlson and Roginsky co-founded the nonprofit Lift Our Voices.

BY GRETCHEN CARLSON AND JULIE ROGINSKY, May 8th, 2023