Emotions ran raw, tears flowed and hearts were touched, as crowds streamed into the Capitol auditorium to plead for lawmakers to match budget appropriations with Idaho's pressing needs.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee held the session Friday, to give the public its say.
Some wanted $35 million in Medicaid cuts from the 2011 Legislature restored, including parents of children with developmental disabilities and mental health problems who must choose between which conditions should be treated.
Others wanted Idaho to pay for a suicide hotline.
Stephanie Clark, who was 14 when her mother killed herself, called it "an issue that affects generations."
Not everybody favored new programs or restoration of past cuts.
Briana LeClaire of the Idaho Freedom Foundation suggested $125 million in tax cuts and dismantlement of the public education "monopoly."
