Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio says the commonwealth’s Human Resources Division is failing to meet affirmative action and diversity goals. The office is tasked with overseeing programs and services for state and some municipal employees, as well as working with businesses that partner with Massachusetts agencies. According to the first-term Democrat, the HRD is delinquent on submitting plans and progress reports for achieving diversity objectives outlined in a series of executive orders from the Governor’s office. WAMC issued multiple requests for comment on this story to the division. DiZoglio broke down the results of her audit with WAMC.
DIZOGLIO: Our office recently audited the Human Resources Division in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who is responsible for providing oversight of some of the goals that we set across our state agencies, in particular. Human Resources Division, also known as HRD, was examined through this audit to see whether or not we were meeting some of our diversity commitments and affirmative action commitments across state government, particularly in state agencies, regarding plans that state agencies are required to submit according to executive order after executive order that come directly from the governor. The most recent one was updated in 2020. HRD is actually required by that executive order to make sure that these state agencies are submitting affirmative action and diversity plans in a timely manner, and that they are also submitting annual progress reports in a timely manner.
WAMC: Having audited the division for those goals and benchmarks, what did you find?
So, we found that actually, Human Resources Division did not ensure that each state agency submitted their annual progress reports in a timely manner, and also, they could not ensure that each state agency submitted an affirmative action plan and a diversity plan, nor did they ensure that there were any remedial courses of action taken to address some of these shortfalls. So, we made HRD aware of these shortcomings and we asked that the agency step up their game, so to speak, and ensure that that actually starts to occur. There are a lot of pontifications on Beacon Hill about the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion. We want to make sure that those are not just buzzwords that are being spouted on Beacon Hill without any actual corrective actions taking place. So, Human Resources Division did concur with the findings of our audit. We are very grateful for that. They did not push back on these findings. They were very much willing to take some of the recommendations. They admitted to having some areas for much needed improvement here, and they have committed to work alongside of the Office of State Auditor to address some of these shortcomings to make sure that these diversity plans and affirmative action plans are coming in on time and are being done correctly.
WAMC: Now, is there a follow up to this scheduled? Are you going to check in with this division to make sure that these recommendations and suggestions are taken up?
Absolutely. So, within the next six months – Actually, in six months – we do what's called a post audit review, Josh, and that's where we go back to the agency and we rehash this conversation, we ask how they've been doing, they report back to the auditor's office some of the progress that they may have made or not made, and we work together to ensure that these recommendations are implemented. So, we are certainly looking forward to that.
Give us the short list- What other audits are you working on in the back half of 2024?
We are actually getting ready to very soon, in coming days, release our first part of our MBTA safety and performance audit that should be coming out by early next week. So, we'll certainly keep you posted on that regarding those findings. We also did just release an audit of the Mass Office of Business Development where we identified some areas for improvement regarding outreach to minority owned, women owned, veteran owned businesses in Massachusetts to be able to participate in programs. Unfortunately, the Mass Office of Business Development, even though it has a stated mission and goals of providing increased opportunities and accessibility to minority women and veteran owned businesses, unfortunately, steps hadn't actually been taken in alignment with the agency's goals. When we did address this with the agency, they essentially said back to us, well, it's not against the law that we do this. And we said back to them, we understand that, however, this is part of your mission statement and part of your goals, and if we expect to, again, diversify the workforce and diversify our state contracting and also ensure that there is a change regarding underrepresented populations actually being represented in who benefits from some of these state programs, then we're going to need to make sure that we have increased accountability around the goals that we set for ourselves in state government. So, we did call for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development to augment their services and outreach to those minority owned populations and businesses, and we are hoping that when we come back for their six-month post audit review, that those changes that we recommended be implemented- We're hoping that they are implemented by that time.
Lastly State Auditor, I spoke earlier this week with another top Democrat in Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin, about conversations about the competency of President Joe Biden in this Democratic run for president. There's been all this conversation about Biden, whether or not he should step down. You're one of the top-ranking Democrats in the commonwealth- What are your thoughts on President Biden? Are you standing with him as the campaign continues? Are you looking for a change of leadership in the party?
I am standing with our Democratic nominee. I am concerned. I think that we have a lot of work to do as Democrats in this upcoming election. I am absolutely concerned for our future and our shared values. I will be voting Democrats, and again, I do share some of the concern.
