Ohio advocates cling to hope for budget rescue

COLUMBUS (AP) — Children who could lose state-subsidized child care under proposed budget cuts trekked through the Ohio Capitol with a wagon filled with candy, looking for lawmakers.

But Ohio lawmakers — locked in a bitter stalemate over the $3.2 billion budget deficit — weren’t there today to answer their doors.

The youngsters from a local KinderCare program had 30,000 M&Ms in tow, with each piece of candy representing one child potentially affected by the cuts.

As the budget crisis drags on, advocates for a number of programs that face critical cuts haven’t lost hope that someone will step in and save them.

In another last-ditch effort, behavioral health advocates put video testimonials of people struggling with drug addiction on YouTube and Facebook.com.