Legislators sue to rein in governor on pandemic relief

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Legislators have asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to limit Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s authority over more than $1 billion in federal relief. The lawsuit on Monday from the Republican Party’s top-ranked senator and a Democratic colleague accuses Lujan Grisham of overstepping her constitutional authority. Democratic State Sen. Jacob Candelaria of Albuquerque says that no one person should have the power to decide alone how much people are taxed or how public money is spent. Lujan Grisham has tapped the disputed relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust and underwrite millions of dollars in sweepstakes prizes for people who got vaccinated.