Attorneys for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton will be in Cook County Circuit Court Tuesday to try and force Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka to issue legislators' paychecks.
Last month, Quinn cut $13.8 million for legislators' paychecks in the state budget. He'd threatened consequences if lawmakers failed to act on addressing the pension problem. When a bipartisan pension failed to meet a deadline, Quinn cut their salaries.
The lawsuit asks the court to decide if Quinn's line-item veto really did fully eliminate lawmakers' salaries. If not, the leaders argue, Topinka should be required to pay those salaries. If the court upholds Quinn's amendatory veto, the lawsuit wants the court to declare Quinn's action unconstitutional.
Quinn says his move is constitutional.
