JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Cole County judge held a hearing Tuesday on a lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of a stadium financing package passed by the Missouri General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Mike Kehoe.

The lawsuit, Moon v. the State of Missouri, was filed on behalf of State Sen. Mike Moon and State Rep. Bryant Wolfin, both Republicans, as well as Ron Calzone, the director of Missouri First, an organization “dedicated to the sovereignty of Missourians.” 

The lawsuit alleges Senate Bill Three, the stadium package passed during an extraordinary special session this past summer, is unconstitutional–-both as a piece of legislation as well as how the bill passed through both chambers. 

“Senate Bill Three not only is about the stadiums, but it's about taxpayers subsidizing the private headquarters and the private training facilities of these sports franchises,” Calzone said in an interview after the Tuesday morning hearing.

“Our concern is that because the laws that are passed by the Missouri General Assembly affect the lives and liberty of every single Missourian, we think that they should have to follow the Constitution as they are passing these laws,” Calzone said.

During the hearing, attorneys from both sides indicated that this case would likely end up in front of the Missouri Supreme Court next year. 

“I think the judge is aware of the fact that we are potentially up against the deadline,” Calzone said. “There are a lot of good reasons to expedite the case.”

Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh denied the motion to expedite the case and said he is taking a motion from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to dismiss the case under advisement.

Limbaugh added that he could make a decision on that motion by the end of the week. 

Kehoe signed the stadium deal into law in June, after an expedited special session that also brought relief for victims of spring storms as well as funding for capital projects across the state.