NM GOP Backs Business Group Lawsuit Against Governor

Businesses in New Mexico have filed suit against Gov. "Malevolent Michelle" Lujan Grisham over her lockdown orders and the New Mexico Republican Party supports the lawsuit

KRQE reported:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A group of New Mexico businesses is suing Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham over the state’s public health order and some of the fines the state has levied while enforcing it. Filed Wednesday in Curry County District Court, the lawsuit comes from seven different businesses mostly in southeast New Mexico. Some of those businesses have been threatened with a $5,000 fine if they remained open for service to customers. 

Supporting the lawsuit, New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce claims the state is mixing two different laws to enforce the public health order. 

“The governor is mixing two laws, she’s taking the enforcement from one law and applying it to the other,” Pearce said. “Under the law that she’s shutting down businesses, she really only has the opportunity to levy the equivalent of a parking ticket, she can give a misdemeanor fine for $100 bucks.” 

As of Thursday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration hadn’t formally responded to the lawsuit. During a news conference last week, the Governor welcomed any legal challenges to her administration’s public health orders while saying she expects her decisions to “prevail” in court. 

The two laws at the center of the lawsuit are the “Public Health Act” and the “Public Health Emergency Response Act.” The Public Health Act is the law the state has been using to temporarily close businesses. That laws allows for the state to levy $100 dollar fines against non-compliant businesses, per day. 

The “Public Health Emergency Response Act” (PHERA) is the law the state has been using to threaten or issue businesses an up to $5,000 fine per day. The lawsuit’s plaintiffs claim PHERA and the fines associated with it don’t apply to the current public health order.

Papas Pawn & Gun in Grants has been fined $6,500 for the days they opened for business, despite precautions that were taken for customer safety.

To read more, go here.