Judge Rules Against Quinn, Says State Lawmakers Must Be Paid [UPDATE]
By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 26, 2013 8:45PM
Illinois lawmakers who haven’t been paid since mid-July will be getting paid in full like Eric B. and Rakim after a Cook County judge ruled Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto suspending their pay was unconstitutional.
Judge Neil Cohen ruled that Quinn’s amendatory veto of House Bill 214 violated Article IV, Section 11 of the Illinois Constitution. Cohen said the state Constitution made it clear that lawmakers’ pay could not be changed while serving their terms and that Quinn exceeded his lawful authority as governor, citing the Illinois Supreme Court's 2004 decision in the case of Jorgenson v. Blagojevich.
Quinn used his line-item veto to suspend lawmakers’ pay in July after the state Legislature failed to reach a deal on pension reform in the spring legislative session. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court seeking to overturn Quinn's ruling after a review of Quinn’s veto by Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka determined she could not pay them, citing the case of AFSCME v. Netsch.
Cohen ordered Topinka to pay lawmakers immediately, with interest.