Special session not so special, lawmakers say

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Just what the General Assembly needed — another delay.
Fire alarms interrupted lawmakers’ caucuses Wednesday, forcing them to evacuate the Capitol for just under an hour.
But local legislators said that might have been the most exciting development to come out of Gov. Pat Quinn’s special session to resolve the state’s pension crisis.
“The fire alarm was probably the highlight of today,” Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, R-Morrisonville, said as he stood outside the south-side entrance amid a drove of lawmakers who were forced to empty the building when the fire alarms went off.
After they filed back inside, Sen. Sam McCann, R-Carlinville, said he doesn’t know exactly what prompted the alarms to be set off.