MBTA Communities Law: Attorney General vs. Auditor – What It Really Means

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s response to the State Auditor’s determination on the MBTA communities Act being an unfunded mandate raises critical legal and political concerns. Typically, administrative agencies receive deference when interpreting and applying their own statutes. The AG’s office regularly argues this principle in court. Yet, in this case, when the Auditor applied her statutory authority, Campbell swiftly declared, without legal justification, that the Auditor was “wrong.”