“Pure Political Self-Promotion and Election Campaigning.”

That’s how House Speaker Ron Mariano characterized State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s latest attempt to shed some light on the workings of the Legislature.

That, of course, is what could happen to some degree if voters approve Question 1 on Election Day, Nov. 5.

Since polls have indicated the ballot measure enjoys overwhelming support among Massachusetts residents, it’s easy to see why DiZoglio wants to keep lawmakers’ intransigence on the public’s radar.

So, just 15 days before the polls opened, DiZoglio doubled down on her long-running feud with the Legislature by releasing a report criticizing lawmakers for their lack of transparency.

DiZoglio’s office released a 77-page report Monday of his attempts to subject the Legislature to a “performance audit.”

Auditors tried to answer a series of questions about legislative finances, operations and communications, but DiZoglio’s office said House and Senate Democrats refused to participate, preventing investigators from drawing conclusions in several areas.

DiZoglio, a Methuen Democrat who has clashed with legislative leaders during her tenure in both chambers, called her “deeply concerned that legislative leaders have refused to cooperate with our office to help promote transparency and identify ways to improving service to the people of Massachusetts”.

“Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of our democracy and allow people to participate in government as provided for in our Constitution in a system of checks and balances…” DiZoglio said in a statement alongside the report .

As expected, Speaker Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka threw shade at DiZoglio’s latest attempt to obtain an accounting of their business, renewing arguments that his office does not have the authority to conduct a carte blanche audit of the Legislature without to violate the Constitution’s separation of states. the powers.

“The purported audit of the Legislature released today by the auditor confirms one thing: the auditor abandoned any pretense of faithfully fulfilling her statutory responsibilities in favor of using her office for pure political self-promotion and electoral actions,” Mariano said in a statement . .

Spilka spokesman Gray Milkowski added, “The Auditor is very focused on the upcoming election and advancing his ballot question while the Legislature has been busy with the business of the people…”

Milkowski pointed out that “The Senate is audited each fiscal year by an independent certified public accounting firm experienced in auditing government entities and provides that audit to the public. In addition, Senate business is made public through diaries, calendars and records of each session, while salaries and other financial information are publicly available on the comptroller’s website.”

The new report from DiZoglio’s office made findings in only three of the original eight areas of concern: the publication of annual financial audits in the Legislature, information about pending and passed bills available on the Legislature’s website and the lack of an office of “services legislative” to support parliamentarians.

DiZoglio’s office said that due to a lack of cooperation from legislative leaders, investigators could not gather enough information to reach firm conclusions on five other topics, including how often bills co-sponsored by a majority of lawmakers actually move and the use of by the Legislature of non-disclosure agreements.

The audit covered the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022, roughly the entire two-year legislative session.

Even if Question 1 passes, DiZoglio may find her office’s attempts to learn more information are frustrated by legislative protocols.

A recent report published by the Tufts Center for Public Policy and Analysis found that some activities of the legislative branch are off limits to the executive branch — of which DiZoglio is a part.

Activities such as votes and committee assignments are part of a protected group immune from scrutiny.

These include votes, debates, committee assignments, policy priorities – “core legislative functions” that the auditor cannot review even if Question 1 is approved.

An audit may be able to look at “non-core” activities such as cybersecurity practices, purchasing practices, or employee training, but it comes with a catch.

The Tufts report also found that state audits are only effective with the cooperation of the Legislature.

DiZoglio faces other obstacles to a legislative audit.

The report notes that the Legislature has three options to pursue if Question 1 is approved:

• Challenge the question in court;

• Passage of a bill that overturns the question;

• Reduce or limit funding to the auditor’s office.

Beyond that, as it has done with other approved referendums, the Legislature can amend questions it doesn’t fully support.

Lawmakers rewrote the 2016 law that legalized marijuana sales in Massachusetts just months after it passed the ballot. It also slowed implementation of a state income tax cut that passed in 2000.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell could also step in, as she tried to do in the MBTA zoning dispute involving the city of Milton’s refusal to comply with that law.

Campbell has already refused to allow DiZoglio’s office to directly audit the Legislature and has suggested he may do so again even if Question 1 passes.

As previously stated, the paper wholeheartedly supports DiZoglio’s attempt to audit the legislation through Question 1.

However, we also understand that achieving this goal is not a done deal, even with the expected outcome on Election Day.