House Audit Bill H.5469 🚩🚩🚩RED FLAGS 🚩🚩🚩 This bill appears designed to create the appearance of transparency while significantly limiting the practical impact of the audit voters approved.
Biggest Red Flags (this is kind of long, but worth understanding.)
🚩 Red Flag #1: They redefine what can be audited
The 72% vote was sold to voters as allowing the State Auditor to audit the Legislature.
This bill narrows that dramatically by creating a new category called "Administrative Functions" and limiting audits only to those functions.
The definition is restricted to:
Budgets
Official audits
Spending of appropriated funds
Settlement agreements
It excludes anything they define as a "Constitutional Function."
If the Legislature can simply label an activity as related to deliberation, policymaking, legislative judgment, internal operations, communications, or constitutional duties, they can claim it is off limits.
The language is incredibly broad:
"any function directly or indirectly related to the discharge of the constitutional privileges and duties of the senate or house of representatives."
That phrase "directly or indirectly related" could swallow almost everything.
🚩 Red Flag #2: Legislature decides who can be interviewed
The Auditor cannot simply interview legislative employees.
The Auditor must ask permission first.
The presiding officer may:
Approve the interview
Approve with conditions
Deny the interview entirely
And then merely provide a justification.
Imagine auditing a city government where the mayor gets to decide whether employees may talk to auditors.
No serious audit works that way.
🚩 Red Flag #3: No enforcement whatsoever
This may be the most important provision in the entire bill.
If the Legislature refuses records or interviews:
The Auditor's only remedy is to complain about it in the audit report.
Then comes the killer provision:
"No court shall have jurisdiction to compel the production of records, to enforce any interview request or to adjudicate any dispute arising under an audit conducted pursuant to this section."
Translation
If legislative leaders say:
"No."
The Auditor cannot:
Force production
Obtain a court order
Compel testimony
Seek judicial review
The only option is writing a paragraph saying they refused.
That is not an enforceable audit.
🚩 Red Flag #4: Legislature controls what records can be requested
The bill creates a very short list of records the Auditor may ask for:
Official budget
Official audits
Transaction listings
Settlement listings
That's it.
Notice what's missing:
Emails
Internal communications
Contracts
Procurement files
Payroll records
Timekeeping records
Grant records
Vendor documentation
Supporting documentation for expenditures
The Auditor gets summaries, not necessarily underlying records.
🚩 Red Flag #5: The Legislature gets 60 days before responding
The Auditor requests records.
The Legislature has up to 60 days to respond.
Then another 30 days for interview requests.
Then another 60 days to respond to draft findings.
This creates a process that can be dragged out for months.
The "Transparency" Section Also Has Loopholes
The bill creates a new legislative records process, which sounds good.
However...
🚩 Red Flag #6: Legislature remains exempt from the Public Records Law
The bill explicitly states:
"This section shall constitute the sole and exclusive remedy for obtaining access to records of the general court."
And:
"No provision of chapter 66 or any other law providing for public access to records shall apply to the general court."
Translation
Instead of simply putting the Legislature under the same public records law that applies to everyone else, they create their own separate system.
They remain a special class.
🚩 Red Flag #7: Legislature decides what records are public
The bill defines "Legislative Records."
If a document doesn't fit their definition, it can be withheld.
This is very different from the normal Public Records Law framework where records are presumed public unless exempt.
🚩 Red Flag #8: Internal legislative review before court review
If a records request is denied:
Appeal goes back to the same legislative records officer.
Then to the Rules Committee.
Only then can the requester go to court.
The Legislature effectively reviews its own decisions first.
Most Concerning Language
"Directly or indirectly related"
"...any function directly or indirectly related to the discharge of the constitutional privileges and duties of the senate or house of representatives."
Extremely broad exemption.
"Authorize the interview"
"The presiding officer ... shall authorize the state auditor to conduct the proposed interview..."
Why does the auditee control interviews?
"Exclusive remedy"
"The exclusive remedy available..."
Means no meaningful enforcement.
"No court shall have jurisdiction."
"No court shall have jurisdiction to compel the production of records..."
This is arguably the strongest anti-audit language in the bill.
"Sole and exclusive remedy"
"...sole and exclusive remedy for obtaining access to records of the general court..."
Keeps the Legislature outside the normal public records law.
The bill gives the State Auditor permission to conduct a limited audit of only those records and interviews legislative leaders choose to make available, while stripping courts of the power to enforce compliance if the Legislature refuses to cooperate.
Voters approved an audit of the Legislature. H.5469 creates an audit that the Legislature can largely control, limit, delay, and ultimately refuse to comply with, without any meaningful enforcement mechanism.
#wheresouraudit #mapoli @bostonbroadside@agenturban@AnneBrensleyMA@JohnEDeaton1 @MikeMinogueABMD @massauditor@Mass_Audit@MassFiscal@HealthRightsMA@FightBackMA@TobyLeary@johnfgately@mafamilyaction1@MAFamilyInst@MAFairElections@islantstudio@UsaReclaim@LisaMairForMA@JohnPaul4USA@BradWyatt@MassDailyNews@samanthajgross@bostonherald
That’s a question for @NatlParkService — they are doing the filtration system, water source and algae.
They dont respond to my questions so tagging them for public information @NationalMallNPS@NPS_Press
Grateful for the American patriots on the ground who are Making the Reflecting Pool Great Again!
Because of their hard work, this landmark will be more beautiful than ever, ready for @Freedom250 this year and renewed for decades to come!
@SecretaryBurgum@Freedom250 You need to get tickets for @emilymiller and the guys doing the work to the grand opening! Emily has been reporting on the progress daily.
@CJLaBretonne@GovSherrillNJ Unless the detainee is being held for criminal charges, they can leave the facility at any time by agreeing to return to the country from which they illegally migrated. No definition of "concentration camp" includes "can leave voluntarily".
They're scripting the outrage.
A "Creator Brief" is being circulated to influencers telling them exactly what to say about Delaney Hall.
Rule 1: Don't call it a detention center. Call it a "concentration camp."
Rule 2: Don't call them detainees. Call them "captives."
Rule 3: Don't say people were arrested. Say they were "kidnapped" or "abducted."
Pre-written content hooks include: "Wake the fuck up America. We're officially Nazi Germany."
The brief provides four tiers of content creation (from "like and share" to "record a direct-to-camera video"), eight accounts to follow for updates, dozens of pre-selected video clips sorted by platform, and a word-for-word "Core Message" every creator is supposed to repeat.
It even tells creators to follow "guidance on Delaney from Detention Watch Network."
That's the same DWN with $7.2 million in assets and Ford Foundation funding. The same org that employs the main protest organizer, Jenny Garcia.
Foundation money funds the organizer. The organizer runs the protest. Then a content playbook gets distributed telling influencers which words to use and which clips to share.
That's not a grassroots movement.
Screenshot below.
They're scripting the outrage.
A "Creator Brief" is being circulated to influencers telling them exactly what to say about Delaney Hall.
Rule 1: Don't call it a detention center. Call it a "concentration camp."
Rule 2: Don't call them detainees. Call them "captives."
Rule 3: Don't say people were arrested. Say they were "kidnapped" or "abducted."
Pre-written content hooks include: "Wake the fuck up America. We're officially Nazi Germany."
The brief provides four tiers of content creation (from "like and share" to "record a direct-to-camera video"), eight accounts to follow for updates, dozens of pre-selected video clips sorted by platform, and a word-for-word "Core Message" every creator is supposed to repeat.
It even tells creators to follow "guidance on Delaney from Detention Watch Network."
That's the same DWN with $7.2 million in assets and Ford Foundation funding. The same org that employs the main protest organizer, Jenny Garcia.
Foundation money funds the organizer. The organizer runs the protest. Then a content playbook gets distributed telling influencers which words to use and which clips to share.
That's not a grassroots movement.
Screenshot below.
They're scripting the outrage.
A "Creator Brief" is being circulated to influencers telling them exactly what to say about Delaney Hall.
Rule 1: Don't call it a detention center. Call it a "concentration camp."
Rule 2: Don't call them detainees. Call them "captives."
Rule 3: Don't say people were arrested. Say they were "kidnapped" or "abducted."
Pre-written content hooks include: "Wake the fuck up America. We're officially Nazi Germany."
The brief provides four tiers of content creation (from "like and share" to "record a direct-to-camera video"), eight accounts to follow for updates, dozens of pre-selected video clips sorted by platform, and a word-for-word "Core Message" every creator is supposed to repeat.
It even tells creators to follow "guidance on Delaney from Detention Watch Network."
That's the same DWN with $7.2 million in assets and Ford Foundation funding. The same org that employs the main protest organizer, Jenny Garcia.
Foundation money funds the organizer. The organizer runs the protest. Then a content playbook gets distributed telling influencers which words to use and which clips to share.
That's not a grassroots movement.
Screenshot below.
They're scripting the outrage.
A "Creator Brief" is being circulated to influencers telling them exactly what to say about Delaney Hall.
Rule 1: Don't call it a detention center. Call it a "concentration camp."
Rule 2: Don't call them detainees. Call them "captives."
Rule 3: Don't say people were arrested. Say they were "kidnapped" or "abducted."
Pre-written content hooks include: "Wake the fuck up America. We're officially Nazi Germany."
The brief provides four tiers of content creation (from "like and share" to "record a direct-to-camera video"), eight accounts to follow for updates, dozens of pre-selected video clips sorted by platform, and a word-for-word "Core Message" every creator is supposed to repeat.
It even tells creators to follow "guidance on Delaney from Detention Watch Network."
That's the same DWN with $7.2 million in assets and Ford Foundation funding. The same org that employs the main protest organizer, Jenny Garcia.
Foundation money funds the organizer. The organizer runs the protest. Then a content playbook gets distributed telling influencers which words to use and which clips to share.
That's not a grassroots movement.
Screenshot below.
@WittyKitty1776@jimmy_rustlin@bitchuneedsoap Public space they can hang around in for a long period of time without attracting attention. Librarians are overwhelmingly on the left politically (https://t.co/E6n8aUa74u) and, if they aren’t the ones running it, will allow people to use the libraries for things like this.
@RyanB81111387@TheJusticeDept Of course, only blue states are obstructing immigration enforcement, directly causing the need for ICE to be running so many undercover enforcement operations
This is day 145 of asking @LeaderJohnThune to pass the SAVE America Act.
Can you believe I’ve had to petition Leader Thune for 145 consecutive days to do his job?
Massachusetts voter rolls fail to comply with federal law requiring them to be "accurate and current". ALL registered voters, both active and inactive, receive ballot request postcards from the state. There are hundreds of thousands of citizens who have moved, in some cases decades ago, yet they still receive ballot request postcards at the address they used t live at. Despite a Massachusetts law requiring signature verification, some clerks have admitted to not checking signatures. The potential for fraud is extremely high! Assistance from @HarmeetKDhillon@CivilRights is required if we are to return to elections that are lawful and verifiable.