New Mexico governor defends power to spend pandemic relief

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is defending her authority to decide how the state will spend more than $1 billion federal pandemic aid — without the approval of the Legislature. Lujan Grisham said in a written court briefing Friday that a state Supreme Court decision nearly 50 years ago upheld the governor’s discretion over federal funding at universities and should hold true today regarding federal pandemic relief funds. Some senators have asked the Supreme Court to intervene and rein in the governor’s authority to spend without legislative approval. Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection in 2022, has used the relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust, prop up agriculture wages, among other things.