The Democratic governor of New Mexico is defending after a report this week outlined the expenses of her office from a taxpayer fund.
According to records, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham will show nearly $ 13,500 in 2020 over a six-month period on items such as groceries, dry cleaning and alcohol, reports the Sante Fe New Mexican.
The liquor spending in September included a purchase of more than $ 200 for five bottles of tequila, two bottles of vodka, two bottles of Merlot and a few bottles of whiskey and gin, the report said.
In the same report, the newspaper revealed that Grisham hosted personal staff meetings at the governor’s mansion, while at the same time urging the public to mix households to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
About half of the $ 13,500 was spent on food for the governor’s cabinet and staff members during the meetings, Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki told The Associated Press.
State republics were furious about the governor’s use of taxpayers cash.
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“I did not realize that the governor was so underpaid that she had to use discretionary money for things she had to pay herself,” State House minority whip Rod Montoya, a Republican, told the New Mexican. “Legislators here are all doing our job, and we do it every day.”
“I did not realize that the governor was so underpaid that she had to use discretionary money for things she had to pay herself.”
“This is not what tax money should be spent on,” New Mexico minority leader Jim Townsend of Artesia told the newspaper. ‘At a time when people are hurting the whole state, using their tax money to buy Wagyu beef should be a little sobering for many people.
“I think it’s just an indication of the problem we had, and what the governor had, connected with people,” he added.
“This is not what tax money should be spent on.”
After the newspaper’s report appeared, Grisham addressed the matter during a virtual news conference on Friday.
“I do not want the New Mexicans to feel that I do not take their hardships seriously,” Grisham told reporters.
“I do not want the new Mexicans to feel that I do not take their hardships seriously.”
Government of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham. (Associated Press)
Grisham said she did not make the purchases in person. Instead, they were made by a ‘woman who works here [who] is a rock star, ‘the New Mexican reported.
On Thursday, Stelnicki announced the purchase of $ 200 liquor. He said it was for a planned holiday party that was eventually canceled. He claims that the purchased bottles of alcohol remain unopened.
The spending comes despite a state law enacted in 2019 that sets new limits on the use of the governor’s discretionary funds. The law was signed by Grisham’s predecessor, former Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican who was also criticized for how her office spent cash, the New Mexican reports.
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Grisham, 61, a native of New Mexico who is in her first term as governor after serving in the U.S. House and previously as the state’s health secretary, has received heat from businesses due to her coronavirus restrictions.
In December, sources told Fox News she had turned down an offer to serve as interior secretary in the Biden administration.
Associated Press contributed to this story.