Treasurer says governor overstepped authority on aid funds

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s state treasurer says the governor of New Mexico is overstepping her authority in deciding independently how to spend more than $1 billion in federal relief without legislative approval or accountability.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has tapped the funds to replenish an unemployment insurance trust and underwrite millions of dollars in sweepstakes prizes for people who got vaccinated.

In court filings obtained Wednesday, Democratic State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg has sided with a pair of legislators who say that the Legislature’s core spending authority is being overridden.