Inside the Mass. transparency war: A political rivalry finally hits the courts| Bay State Briefing

John L. Micek

Mon, March 2, 2026 at 2:11 PM UTC

11 min read

Good Monday morning, everyone.

The long-simmering tensions between two of the most powerful women in Massachusetts government finally spilled over in state court, adding further fuel to the fight over a legislative audit that Bay State voters overwhelmingly approved in 2024.

State Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell sounded the opening bell when she asked a judge to toss Auditor Diana DiZoglio's lawsuit against Democratic legislative leaders.

Campbell, whose office serves as the lawyer for state agencies, argued that she's the only legal "gatekeeper" in deciding whether what amounts to a constitutional turf fight should be allowed to proceed.

DiZoglio filed suit in the state's Supreme Judicial Court last month , seeking to force her onetime colleagues in the Legislature to heed the voters' will and open their books.

She also asked the court to let her make an end-run around Campbell and allow her to hire her own legal representation.

"Seventy-two percent of the general public said they want transparency and accountability," DiZoglio told reporters during a news conference in her State House office. "What's happening is contradictory to what the people of Massachusetts have made clear they want out of their state government."

Campbell stuck to the law in her court filing, arguing that letting DiZoglio hire her own lawyer would open the door to a "babel of voices with competing interests" before the state's highest court.

That's especially unnecessary, she added, since she's repeatedly offered to work with DiZoglio to find a path forward.

DiZoglio fired back with a court filing of her own, parrying Campbell's efforts to get her suit dismissed. She accompanied it with a statement that left no room for misinterpretation about her feelings on the matter.

Campbell "has abdicated her duty to defend the public interest," DiZoglio said. "Democracy is under attack and the people deserve an answer from the courts."

She went on to observe that "Campbell claims I am a 'dissenting state official' and that she is the 'gatekeeper' to the courts, but those gates were never meant to be locked to the people. Gatekeeping justice isn't leadership. It's obstruction. The courts belong to the people, not the politicians, so yes ― I dissent."

House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, and Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, talk with political analyst Jon Keller at the MCLE Conference Center in Boston on Feb. 25, 2026.Ella Adams/State House News Service

Meanwhile, neither state Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, nor House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, who are the targets of the litigation, has made much of an effort to hide their disdain for DiZoglio or her audit push.

The two top Democrats in the Legislature made that clear again last week during a forum in Boston hosted by veteran broadcast journalist Jon Keller.

Both argued that the notoriously opaque institution has cleaned up its act on transparency issues — even though it and the governor's office are not subject to the state's open records law.

"I have nothing to hide. As a matter of fact, we do audit; we've done an audit every year. The audit is on the internet. The issue is we don't want a political audit," Mariano told Keller, according to State House News Service . "If you see the behavior that the auditor is engaged in, again, we see smacks of bullying-type behavior."

Spilka was equally unsparing.

"We have tried to systematically, at least the last couple of years, to reform our way of doing things to be more transparent, to be more accountable, to be more open," the Ashland lawmaker said. ... I don't know what it is that she wants, except (that) she is a headline-hunter."

DiZoglio, who's up for reelection and pushing a ballot question that would make the Legislature and the governor's office subject to the open records law, was predictably not amused.

"The people have had enough of their power trip," she told State House News Service. "They do not reflect the values of Massachusetts residents with respect to transparency and accountability and it's beyond time they move on from Beacon Hill."

And so it goes.

A sure sign it's campaign season? Campaign finance complaints. AP

Who you calling 'dark money?'

A top Massachusetts union leader has accused the group behind a fall ballot question looking to trim the state income tax of being a "dark money" organization that's not coming clean about who's paying for its efforts.

Harris Gruman, the executive director of the SEIU Massachusetts State Council, filed the complaint against the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance with state campaign finance regulators last week.

Gruman is also the chairperson of the "Protect Massachusetts' Future ballot committee," which opposes the proposal to shave the state's income tax from its current 5% to 4%.

Founded in 2024 , the alliance is a joint effort between the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Pioneer Institute and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. It's also backing a ballot question that would allow for more state tax refunds.

The group has so far spent $1.6 million on behalf of its efforts, filings with the state's Office of Campaign and Political Finance show.

State voters "have the right to know" who's paying for a campaign that would "slash the state's budget by more than $5 billion a year," Gruman said in a statement. "And they deserve to know exactly how much these initiatives' backers would benefit from billions of dollars in tax breaks that would overwhelmingly go to the state's richest residents."

In an email, an alliance spokesperson called the accusations "baseless," and said the organization has been "fully compliant with state rules and guidelines in consultation with OCPF."

A new partnership between the state and Google will offer free AI training to Bay State residents. Tyler Garnet

This is how the robot takeover begins

Gov. Maura Healey was in Cambridge last week to roll out a new program that will provide free AI training to all state residents.

The partnership with Google, through its Grow with Google program, includes a new AI Professional Certificate that's intended to help Bay Staters stay competitive in a job market that's being reshaped by artificial intelligence.

"This partnership creates an opportunity for us to support our workers, students and small business owners across Massachusetts, making sure they have the tools they need to compete and succeed in this rapidly evolving economy," Healey said in a statement. " ...This resource will strengthen our workforce, our companies and ensure that Massachusetts remains the global leader in AI-led innovation and breakthroughs."

Google, which has a massive presence in Kendall Square, said it's happy to be aboard.

"Massachusetts is a global leader in technology and learning, and Google is proud to have been part of its community for over twenty years," Lisa Gevelber, the founder of Grow with Google, said. "By partnering with Gov. Healey and the Massachusetts AI Hub to provide training like the Google AI Professional Certificate at no cost, we're ensuring that every student, employee and small business owner across the Commonwealth can thrive in the AI economy."

More than 1 million people worldwide, including 250,000 people from Massachusetts, have completed Google's career certificate program since its launch in 2017.

And many of those who have completed the program have said it's led to a raise or a promotion within six months, the administration said in its statement.

The new initiative "reflects Massachusetts' strong commitment to investing in people and expanding access to the skills that power innovation," state Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley said. "By offering free AI training statewide, we're helping residents across the commonwealth participate in the next generation of breakthroughs, entrepreneurship, and economic growth."

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wants to increase legal representation for immigrants who interact with ICE agents. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media )

Markey seeks new 'SHIELD' for people facing deportation

With no end in sight to the Trump administration's aggressive deportation campaign, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey says he wants to make sure people swept up in its wake have access to the best legal representation.

Last week, Markey, D-Mass., rolled out a bill he's calling the SHIELD Act, an acronym for " Securing Help for Immigrants through Education and Legal Development ."

The proposal would, among other things, create a $100 million grant program to build up a legal services workforce for people facing deportation, according to an analysis shared with MassLive.

It would fund workforce development efforts and authorize still another grant program for state and local governments and nonprofits that train legal staff or provide legal services to people facing deportation.

"Removal can inflict devastating harm on individuals, tearing families apart and exposing individuals to life-threatening danger abroad. But immigrants lack the right to government-appointed counsel in immigration proceedings, forcing many to navigate a complex legal system alone," Markey's office said in that analysis.

"Access to counsel can be life-changing — immigrants with legal representation are less likely to be ordered removed than those without counsel," they concluded.

A vote here sign outside of the Worcester Public Library.(Adam Bass/MassLive.com)

Monday numbers

Bay State voters will choose among a historic number of ballot questions when they head to the polls in November. And a new University of New Hampshire poll hints at some early favorites.

A question that would authorize same-day voter registration, backed by Secretary of State Bill Galvin, is the current frontrunner, with 61% either "strongly" or "somewhat" in favor of the proposal. Twenty-one percent are opposed, with 13% undecided.

Here's how the rest of it breaks down:

58%:The ranks of voters who support a question that would trim the state's income tax from 5% to 4%.

56%:The percentage of voters who are backing a statewide rent control question.

41%:The ranks of voters who support a single-party "jungle" primary.

36%:The ranks of voters who support a question that would make it easier to build single-family homes.

And the one big red line?

Sixty-three percentof the poll's respondents said they oppose a ballot question that would repeal the state's recreational marijuana law.

The poll of 670Massachusetts residents was conducted from Feb. 12 to Feb. 16, with an overall margin of error of 3.8%.

President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. AP

They said it

"If you look at cities like New Bedford, like Worcester, like Lawrence and Lowell, a lot of these are former mill towns that really are only being kept afloat because they've now become immigrant centers where people are coming to and making lives and building communities."

— Sarang Sekhvat, of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, on the economic impact that newcomers are having on the Bay State's economy and why the Trump administration's hardline deportation campaign is harming it.

A view of the Massachusetts State House in Boston, looking up Park Street toward Beacon Hill, on a busy evening on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.(John L. Micek/MassLive)

What goes on

Health care and hospital advocates, joined by state lawmakers, will hold a briefing on Wednesday, March 4, to discuss the state's drug pricing program and how policymakers can support a "vital" part of the social safety net.

Featured speakers include Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and Steve Walsh of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. The event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Room 437 at the State House, will also include a panel discussion.

Mumford & Sons perform at Blossom Music Center during their 2025 tour.John Kuntz, cleveland.com

Turned up to 11

Banjo-playing, arm-garter-wearing, anthemic folk rockers Mumford and Sons play Fenway Park on June 22 ( tickets and more info here ). The British band is touring behind their new record " Prizefighter ." From that LP, here's (appropriately enough) " The Banjo Song ."

Surfers try to get in the water, past big waves bolstered by Hurricane Erin, at Rockaway Beach in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Your Monday long read

If you're like me, the past couple of weeks of blizzards, snow and ice have you thinking about warmer climes. Thankfully, the folks at Surfer magazine have their list of the top surfing destinations for March. And they are reliably exotic, ranging from Morocco to Australia.

As ever, here's the germane bit:

"We're about to begin the great seasonal shift for the northern hemisphere. Winter is about to give way to spring, winding down the swell season as swells begin to slow down and the top half of the globe is ready to calm down. That doesn't mean the waves will stop — it just means there's less likelihood for giant surf out of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

"Spring is still a great time to be a surfer, the days are getting longer, the water is heating back up, and we still get some of that swell, which makes a beeline for shore, just not as brutish as the depths of winter.

"Throughout March, there are lots of places that can tickle your surfing fancy; the southern hemisphere is starting to wake up as the emphasis for good surf shifts from this half to the other one."

That's it for today. As always, you can send comments, tips and questions to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a good week, friends.

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