South Carolina's high court has ordered Republican Gov. Mark Sanford to request $700 million in federal stimulus money, which would head primarily to cash-strapped schools over the next two years.

The state Supreme Court issued its ruling Thursday, a day after hearing arguments in Sanford's legal fight to reject the money. The anti-bailout governor refused to take the cash even after legislators passed a budget requiring him to do so.

The arguments involved lawsuits filed by students and school administrators. Sanford had tried to get those cases merged in federal court with his own lawsuit to block the money, but he lost that fight Monday.