Anthony Amore brings more than 30 years of experience in investigations, audits, and inspections to his campaign for Massachusetts State Auditor. His career has spanned both the public and private sector, and he has served as a federal agent, senior Homeland Security Official, and museum security director. He is also the author of three best-selling books, including the New York Times Crime Best Seller The Art of the Con, which dissected high-value fraud schemes in the art world.
As Auditor, Anthony will establish a Waste Prevention Unit within the Auditor’s Office to examine legislative and regulatory proposals in order to identify and bring attention to potential problem areas. The Waste Prevention Unit would play a vital role in applying to state government the wise proverb: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Expanded Driver’s Licenses
New state law will grant Massachusetts driver’s licenses to immigrants who live in the state without proper permission from U.S. Immigration authorities and contrary to federal law. Regardless of your stance on this issue, one thing is clear: the beleaguered Registry of Motor Vehicles is not up to the task of sorting through foreign-issued documentation to ascertain the actual identity and age of license applicants.
As a former member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its predecessors, Anthony has dealt firsthand with the complexity of confirming the identity of immigrants and even helped to process Bosnian refugees to resettle in the United States.
Labor and Workers Rights
Anthony respects the important contribution of labor unions in Massachusetts. He was raised by a dedicated member of the Steelworkers Union and personally served as a union steward with the American Federation of Government Employees. He believes that our public employees are vital parts of our community and will honor their expertise and commitment to public service if elected.
Anthony believes the Taxpayer Protection Act (Pacheco Act) has advantages and disadvantages. It strengthens our ability to offer good-paying jobs with great retirement benefits to state employees of the Commonwealth who are vested. This system is sustainable and favorable because the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIM) has continually made wise investments on behalf of those who rely on our state pension system.
At the same time, minority-owned contractors are unable to work with the Commonwealth because they often cannot meet the law’s requirements to offer wages and benefits on par with those of public employees. In order to address our state’s racial wealth gap, Anthony believes that the state’s Supplier Diversity Office should be granted flexibility when recommending women and minority-owned firms for state contracts. Similar reviews of the law may be warranted when determining the trade-off between good-paying jobs versus overall public benefits in areas such as climate change resiliency.