Madigan: Suit a waste of resources

House Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday labeled the governor's lawsuit against him an unnecessary distraction as pressing budgetary problems remain unresolved.

"It is a waste of state resources. It is a waste of time," Madigan told the Daily Herald in his first public comments on the suit.

In the suit filed Monday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich accuses Madigan of undermining his constitutional authority to call lawmakers into special session.

Madigan has told lawmakers to ignore some of the governor's calls for special session to deal with the state budget and transit funding. He has also failed to convene some sessions at the specific times the governor stipulated.

The suit says Madigan's behavior amounts to "unauthorized and escalating acts aimed at eradicating the governor's constitutional and statutory powers."

The state has gone without a regular yearly budget since early July as legislative leaders, and Madigan and Blagojevich in particular, have failed to come to an agreement on key funding plans.