As the daughter of a single mother who had her at 17, Diana has always had to fight for the things that have mattered to her. A student of Massachusetts public schools, she went to Middlesex Community College. She later earned a financial scholarship to Wellesley College.After serving in the legislature as an aide, as Chief of Staff for the 12,000 member Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, and years of work for local nonprofits and community organizations, she won her first race for public office in 2012. Diana served three terms as State Representative for the 14th Essex District. In 2018 was elected to the State Senate.
Our current State Auditor has consistently advocated for transparency and equity on corporate tax breaks. Right now, so-called economic development incentives are handed out with little oversight and even less transparency. I will work alongside colleagues in government to pass legislation empowering the Auditor’s office to monitor corporate tax breaks. Government needs to ensure all businesses have equal opportunity to access these incentives, which should be awarded based on need and merit — not political connections and access to power.
I will continue our current Auditor’s fight for increased accountability and expanded “clawback” provisions. The Auditor’s office should have the power to analyze the tax returns of corporations receiving these incentives, in order to determine whether this is the best use of taxpayer dollars. Every dollar given away as a tax break is a dollar that could have been invested in our schools, our public transit system, our roads, and many other worthy causes. Therefore, it is essential that there is accountability to ensure these taxpayer dollars are used fairly and wisely.