New Mexico Supreme Court mediates clash on pandemic aid

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s Supreme Court is considering whether state legislators should have a greater say in spending more than $1 billion in federal pandemic aid.

Arguments in the case were scheduled for Wednesday morning at the five-seat high court. A bipartisan list of state senators is challenging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as she asserts authority over federal pandemic aid approved by President Joe Biden in March.

The Democrat governor is running for reelection in 2022. She used the relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust, underwrite sweepstakes prizes for people who got vaccinated and prop up agriculture wages.