By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – A St. Louis County judge has ruled against a group that's trying to prevent the county from spending public money on the new Cardinals ballpark.
Voters passed Proposition A in November. It requires a public vote anytime county leaders want to spend taxpayer money on sports stadiums.
Supporters of the measure wanted it to apply retroactively to the retro ballpark going up downtown.
But the county committed $46 million in bonds before the November election. And Judge Barbara Wallace ruled Thursday that the new law will not affect those funds.
Christine Hart is an attorney for the Coalition against Public Funding for Stadiums.
"The coalition says that it intends to appeal, and we're looking at the various legal arguments that we can use to most effectively win on appeal," Hart said.
County Executive Charlie Dooley praised the judge's decision.
"I'm glad it's over with now," Dooley said. "Due process has been rendered to those who opposed this situation, and we want to move forward now, and get a new stadium."