COLUMBIA, Mo. — Today, the Missouri Democratic Party is calling on Attorney General Josh Hawley to drop his appeal of a lawsuit ordering the state to pay $26.3 million in back payments to 3,000 Missourians who are blind.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board wrote when Hawley announced his decision to appeal this case, “For financial reasons, as well as reasons of simple compassion, Hawley should rethink the appeal.”

Blind Missourians have been shorted by the Department of Social Services’ blind pension fund, with the most recent judgment estimating that the state owes blind Missourians $26.3 million. Hawley’s decision to appeal this case will cost Missouri $2 million in interest this year — and further delay Missourians from receiving the money that they are owed.