Emotional Budget Hearing As People Plead For Health Services

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Parents of children with developmental disabilities chastised state lawmakers, describing it as unconscionable they have to return year after year to plead for financing for children's health services.

The comments Friday came in an emotional day of public testimony in the Senate Finance Committee, as people who rely on the state for care begged senators to protect health programs that are on the chopping block.

Elaine Harmon, of Lake Charles, broke down in tears as she urged senators to "keep helping the people" like her 17-year-old son Marcus, who has developmental disabilities.

Angela Lorio, of Baton Rouge, brought her 3-year-old son John Paul, who uses a tube to breathe, to the budget hearing. They've become frequent attendees of the hearings to remind lawmakers of the people who use state assistance.

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