The Massachusetts Treasurer’s Office should be a model of accountability, transparency, and fiscal discipline. Instead, it has become a quiet corner of state government where too little scrutiny meets too much politics. Under Treasurer Deb Goldberg, the office has provided Massachusetts taxpayers little clarity about how it manages their money, how it evaluates programs, or how investments truly perform. In a state where one-party rule dominates nearly every decision, leaders have reduced oversight to a formality rather than a safeguard.

The Treasurer’s primary duty is to safeguard public funds and ensure responsible stewardship of the state’s resources. Yet in recent years, the office has become more politicized and less transparent. The office delays reports, ignores audits, and makes major financial decisions behind closed doors. One‑party control has bred complacency—because when everyone in power answers to the same political structure, real checks and balances vanish. Massachusetts taxpayers deserve better than a system where accountability depends on internal politics instead of public trust.

As a candidate for Treasurer, I believe this office can and must do better. My approach begins with one simple principle: the taxpayers have a right to know where every dollar goes. I would create a public transparency portal to track budgets, contracts, and investments in real time, allowing residents to judge performance for themselves rather than relying on political talking points.

Fiscal integrity also means respecting the responsibility that comes with managing the state’s pension funds. These assets belong to retirees and workers who depend on their stability. Investment decisions should focus on balanced, long-term returns – not political preferences. Sound management, grounded in transparency and discipline, must replace the blurred lines of politics that have taken hold under one‑party rule.

Finally, the Treasurer’s office should help residents directly by strengthening financial literacy and inclusion. Partnering with schools, community organizations, and employers can provide families across the Commonwealth with the tools to budget, save, and plan for their futures, especially in communities that Beacon Hill has long overlooked.

Massachusetts families deserve leadership that values efficiency, integrity, and openness. The Treasurer’s job isn’t about serving political interests; it’s about serving the public. It’s time to restore accountability to state government and put taxpayers, not one‑party politics, at the center of Massachusetts’ financial future.

Elizabeth Dionne is a candidate for Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and an advocate for fiscal transparency and government accountability.