Madigan, Cullerton File Lawsuit Over Halted Lawmaker Pay

The leaders of the Illinois House and Senate are filing a lawsuit challenging Gov. Pat Quinn's halting lawmaker pay over the state's pension gridlock.

House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton explained their move Tuesday calling Quinn's action "purely political and unconstitutional.''

Earlier this month, Quinn cut $13.8 million for legislators' paychecks in the state budget through his veto power. Lawmakers failed to come up with a solution to the state's nearly $100 billion pension crisis and when a pension panel blew past another deadline, he moved to stop their pay.

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka has said she has no choice but to withhold their paychecks and cited a previous court case.

Gov. Pat Quinn issued a statement Tuesday afternoon in response to the lawsuit.

"Today's lawsuit filed by two members of the Illinois General Assembly is just plain wrong," he said.  “If legislators had put forth the same effort to draw up a pension reform agreement that they did in crafting this lawsuit, pension reform could have been done by now."

Madigan's spokesman says the lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County.