Suzanne M. Bump is the 25th Auditor of the Commonwealth, one of six constitutional officers in Massachusetts, and the first female elected to this role in the state’s history. She was elected to the Office in 2010.
Auditor Bump believes that better government means government that is more effective, more efficient, more accountable and more transparent. She is determined to use the Office of the State Auditor to ensure that every dollar given to state government is a dollar well spent and that government agencies and contractors follow the rules when spending public funds.
One hundred days after being sworn in on January 19, 2011, Auditor Bump implemented a set of sweeping reforms across the Office of the State Auditor to ensure excellence in auditing. As she did so, she explained, “The Auditor’s Office must model the behavior it expects from those it audits - if officials in government and private vendors are going to respect and heed our audit findings and if the public is to have confidence that this office can be an effective watchdog and agent for change in government.”
Auditor Bump has also begun to use the resources and authority of the Office in new ways, to examine areas like the state’s system of tax breaks, credits and incentives for the business community, to identify broken systems within state government, and to determine whether state vendors who provide services ranging from health care to education are delivering the benefits the public expects. During fiscal year 2011, the Office issued 189 audit reports and disclosed $80 million in waste, cost savings opportunities and lost revenue enhancements.
Auditor Bump has many years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to her election, she served in Governor Deval Patrick’s cabinet as Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. She also served eight years in the state Legislature, representing Braintree in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She has worked as a business advocate and counsel for a number of private companies and has sat on the boards of non-profit business and service organizations including St. Francis House, one of New England’s largest providers of services to the poor and homeless, and the Edwina Martin House in Brockton, a residential drug and alcohol treatment facility for women.
Auditor Bump currently chairs the Municipal Finance Oversight Board, serves on the board of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission and the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System, and is a member of the Inspector General Council. She is the President-elect of the Boston Chapter of the Association of Governmental Accounting and a member of the National State Auditors Association.
A native of Whitman, Massachusetts, Auditor Bump attended Cardinal Spellman High School, graduated from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in English and received her juris doctorate from Suffolk University School of Law.
She has been honored by the following organizations:
- The Labor Guild of the Archdiocese of Boston, which honored her with the “Cushing-Gavin Award” for excellence in labor-management relations, exemplifying moral integrity, professional competence and community concern
The Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, which presented her with an “Honorary Bachelor of Humane Letters”
The Arnold M. Dubin Labor Education Center at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, which honored her with the “Richard M. Fontera Award”
The Recovery Homes Collaborative, which honored her for “Bringing together legislators and treatment programs for the benefit of those recovering from substance abuse”
The Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, which recognized her for “Efforts toward Workforce Development in Merrimack Valley”
The Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board, which honored her for her “Tireless efforts in support of workforce development for the benefit of the job seekers and employees in Merrimack Valley”
The Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council, which named her their “Public Official of the Year”
The Job Training Alliance, where she was lauded for “Advancing Employment Opportunities for Boston Residents”
The Massachusetts Workforce Board Association, which gave her their “Eagle Award."