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JEFFERSON CITY 鈥� A Republican culture war push against so-called 鈥渨oke investing鈥� rules could cost Missouri taxpayers more than $2.1 million in legal expenses.

Two weeks after a federal judge struck down a controversial set of investing regulations pushed by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, an industry group filed a request for attorney fees in connection with the case.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said in a court filing last week that Ashcroft鈥檚 failed gambit cost the group $1.3 million in attorney fees.

In addition to potentially paying for the organization鈥檚 legal bills, public payroll records show taxpayers have already paid more than $876,000 to a politically connected law firm representing Ashcroft, putting the initial price tag for the lawsuit at $2.1 million.

The cost to taxpayers could rise if the Kansas City-based Graves Garrett law firm bills the state for more of its work, including a possible appeal of the decision.

The final tally is likely to remain unknown until after Ashcroft leaves office in January.

The request for compensation is the latest fallout from a Republican-led push to crack down on socially driven investment policies designed to account for the effects of businesses on the environment and other so-called 鈥渨oke鈥� issues.

Along with Ashcroft, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey also has carried the torch to address the investing concept known as environmental, social and corporate governance criteria, or ESG for short.

Bailey, an appointee of Gov. Mike Parson who is running for a full, four-year term, signed a joint letter in February warning , the world鈥檚 largest asset manager, of basing investment decisions on an alleged political agenda rather than on the long-term health of state pension systems.

Treasurer Vivek Malek, also a Parson appointee running for a full term in November, earlier weighed in positively on Ashcroft鈥檚 now-failed lawsuit through a formal court filing.

And, Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick putting a spotlight on ESG investing policies by state pension systems, suggesting many of them need clearer policies in how they make investment decisions.

鈥淭he lack of clear guidelines for how votes should be cast has resulted in proxy votes for public retirement systems being cast in an inconsistent manner,鈥� Fitzpatrick wrote.

In the case of Ashcroft鈥檚 lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough agreed with the securities industry that his proposed rules were 鈥渦nconstitutionally vague鈥� and threatened to do 鈥渋rreparable harm鈥� to financial advisers operating within Missouri.

In his decision, Bough warned against using political talking points in setting rules and regulations affecting companies and taxpayers.

The judge wrote that rather than imposing an unconstitutional regulation on an already tightly regulated industry, Ashcroft could have instead embarked on a 鈥減ublic information campaign鈥� to advance his message.

The request from the securities industry group said many of the legal maneuvers used by attorneys for Ashcroft were time-consuming and potentially unnecessary.

鈥淢uch of the expense incurred in this hard-fought litigation resulted from defendants鈥� tactical choices. While defendants had every right to litigate their case vigorously, (federal law) now entitles SIFMA to compensation for the expenses that resulted,鈥� the industry group said in an Aug. 28 filing in federal court.