They served up a subpoena on a Sunday!
"Inspector general seeks greater powers" by Sean P. Murphy |
Globe Staff, December 02, 2012
Five months after appointment as state inspector general, Glenn A.
Cunha is moving to strengthen his office’s power to compel witnesses to
provide sworn testimony in investigations of waste, fraud, and abuse in
state and local government agencies.
Cunha, a longtime prosecutor, last month without fanfare filed a bill
with the Legislature that, if passed and signed into law, would
significantly expand the powers of his office by giving it the
unfettered right to question anyone under oath.
Currently, his office must receive approval from six of eight members
of an oversight panel, made up of the attorney general and others,
before issuing a subpoena to anyone.
It would mark the first major change in almost 30 years in a set of
laws passed as the result of a corruption scandal in the 1970s that led
to the convictions of three state senators. In addition to the inspector
general’s office, the Legislature at that time created the state Ethics
Commission, which investigates public employees for violations of the
state’s conflict of interest laws.
And we also have an auditor's office.
I mean, really, how many bureaucracies are needed to oversee the greatest political system on the face of the planet?
Cunha’s bill was discussed publicly for the first time Thursday at a
meeting of an obscure panel with limited oversight authority over the
inspector general’s office. Until told of the bill by the Globe on
Friday, neither Governor Deval Patrick nor House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo
was aware of it. Both said they planned to review the matter.
The bill was filed for consideration in the 2013-14 legislative
session, which begins in January, but Cunha’s office is holding out
hope that it could be passed before then as an amendment to a
supplemental budget....
--more--"
Related: Vetting urged on inspector general power bid
Better put that subpoena back in your pocket.
Also see: The Word From on High in Massachusetts
