As she prepared to become acting governor on Tuesday, Comptroller Diana DiZoglio drafted an executive order that would ban the use of nondisclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses in state government settlement agreements.
But a scheduling change kept Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll in town just long enough for Secretary of State William Galvin to return to the State House from Chicago. The proposal remained in draft form, however, and DiZoglio instead urged Governor Maura Healey to sign the measure.
DiZoglio said she would not have signed the order even if she had become acting governor. She was told last week that she might have done so for a few hours on Tuesday morning because Healey, Driscoll and Galvin were originally scheduled to be either at the Democratic National Convention or on their way back from there.
The auditor, who has long advocated for a ban on disclosure agreements in state government, issued the executive order just one day after her office released an investigation into the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority that found “troubling and unlawful practices.”
“The reason I decided to approach this issue in this way is because I have been bombarded with questions about what I intend to do with the opportunity to promote meaningful, positive opportunities for change in government while simultaneously completing our audit of the Convention Center Authority,” she said.
The audit of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority alleged that the organization – which oversees the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, The Lawn on D, the Hynes Convention Center, the MassMutual Center and the Boston Common Garage – violated state law when it signed a $1.2 million nondisclosure agreement that concealed “allegations of racial discrimination.”
Agency officials said the actions took place under previous leadership.
A separate study by the agency, published in October 2023, found that black workers tended to “feel isolated or excluded.”
“Even when employees of color complain about promotions or other employment decisions, senior management rarely understands or even considers the potential underlying racial impact of that dissatisfaction,” the report said.
DiZoglio said she would have “seriously considered” signing her executive order – which was written in several places with the title “acting governor” – if she had temporarily assumed office under Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration.
“The previous administration repeatedly and consistently opposed any reforms to the misappropriation of taxpayer funds and the use of these non-disclosure agreements, despite years of my trying to work with them to make meaningful changes,” she told reporters at State House. “That is not the case with the current administration.”
The auditor said Healey’s office had “expressed its desire to work with our office to make meaningful changes.”
The draft order was released at a time when, according to DiZoglio, there were delays and “disagreements” over what documents were needed to complete an investigation into the use of nondisclosure agreements between state agencies, including those led by Healey.
DiZolgio said her office has been reviewing their use in state government since July 2023 and has requested 12 years’ worth of documents from various state agencies, including the executive branch and state universities.
But the investigation, which DiZoglio promised during the campaign and which includes a broad range of organizations such as public universities, is encountering obstacles, she said.
“It has been a tremendous challenge for us to get access to all the documents we need to complete this report. We have had to contend with delays in state agencies providing the documents we have requested,” she told reporters at the State House.
DiZoglio declined to comment on the specifics of the review, but said her office had at times waited between two and six months for access to documents. She did not initially say which agencies were delaying the release of information, but later said, “Those are the agencies within the executive branch.”
A spokesman for Healey declined to say whether the governor supports the executive order, saying only that the office is “cooperating with the ongoing audit and will continue to discuss this matter with the auditor.”
The auditor said she had “recently” met with Healey, who expressed her intention to “help ensure that we receive timely access to our documents.”
“She has asked me and our general counsel to let us know when there are delays on certain issues so that together we can ensure that the governor’s office stays in touch with the appropriate state agencies to make sure we don’t have to deal with these delays as often,” DiZoglio said.
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