New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department ordered to pay more than $30,000 in IPRA case
May 11—A research institute in New Mexico has won a lawsuit against the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department over violations of the Inspection of Public Records Act.
The Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI) — a think tank headquartered in New Mexico that examines data-driven policies and advocates for limited government and personal freedom — sued the NMTRD after the department refused to give SPPI access to the Motor Vehicle Division database, a division of the NMTRD, for research purposes.
The institute requested records under the Inspection of Public Records Act, a New Mexico state law that guarantees the public has access to public records held by government entities.
The institute planned to study the effects of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's electric vehicle mandate, which requires manufacturers deliver an increasing number of zero- and low-emission vehicles to the state beginning with 43% of model year 2027 cars. Specifically, the study would analyze how the mandate would affect lower income and minority residents.
Patrick Brenner, president of SPPI, said the policy did not take New Mexican residents and their needs into perspective, something the institute wanted to highlight in its research.
The NMTRD declined to comment.
After SPPI filed a complaint to enforce IPRA in state district court, the two parties failed to come to an agreement during mediation.
After a one-day trial in January, 1st Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled in favor of SPPI, and NMTRD was required to allow the institute access to MVD databases, and pay $30,796.93 to cover SPPI's attorneys' fees and litigation costs.
"I think what really happened was just a fundamental misunderstanding of their obligations under the Inspection of Public Records Act," Brenner said. "It was not necessarily a malicious attempt to hide data."
Brenner said that while the court ruled in SPPI's favor, he was not necessarily pleased with the results, stating that SPPI could have been awarded more money to discourage the state from inadequately responding to public records requests in the future.
"Unfortunately, Judge Biedscheid split the baby," Brenner said. "He did it in a way where he strategically eliminated any possibility for the institute to appeal because he ruled in our favor, but he removed our ability to collect additional damages by not awarding any of the statutory damages outlined in IPRA."
With the information acquired after the lawsuit, SPPI plans to produce a consumer-facing report that will show the demographics of people who own electric vehicles and the demographics of those who would be negatively affected by the mandate.
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