By Michael Martin Garrett

The NCAA has requested that a federal judge expedite a decision on its federal lawsuit against various Pennsylvania government officials, according to court documents filed Monday.

The lawsuit – filed last year against Governor Tom Corbett, Treasurer Rob McCord, Auditor General Eugene Depasquale and others – argues the Pennsylvania legislature’s attempts to keep the NCAA’s fine of $60 million against Penn State within the state is unconstitutional.

The Endowment Act is a piece of legislation passed by the Pennsylvania legislature in 2013 that requires the $60 million in fines against Penn State to be distributed within Pennsylvania. The act has since been at the heart of the NCAA’s federal lawsuit and a lawsuit brought against the NCAA in commonwealth court by State Senator Jake Corman, who was the prime sponsor of the act.

The NCAA’s latest request comes less than a week after a Pennsylvania judge denied the NCAA’s request to dismiss Corman’s lawsuit in commonwealth court. Corman is also a party in the federal suit.

The NCAA filed the motion for dismissal in September, arguing that paying the fine according to the Endowment Act would satisfy the terms of the consent decree signed by Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, despite their arguments in federal court that this act was unconstitutional.

This was after the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court had ruled the Endowment Act constitutional in April. The Commonwealth Court has yet to make a decision on the legality of the consent decree, which bound Penn State to the $60 million fines and other sanctions.