AUSTIN — Sometimes the Legislature is business, sometimes it's personal, and sometimes the two meet to make things happen.

Texas' foster children could benefit from just such a recent intersection, when Sen. Eliot Shapleigh tried to put millions of dollars into a foster-care bill to provide for monthly caseworker visits for more children.

Even the El Paso Democrat thought the idea would go nowhere: “We frankly had no confidence that this budget would cover it.”

Then GOP Sen. John Carona of Dallas joined the fight, calling it “disgraceful” that the Senate couldn't find $12 million to help foster children when it had just passed a $182.2 billion budget plan.

The deal was sealed when GOP Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden of Bryan said he was sure they could find the money.

Maybe Shapleigh's arguments just made sense to them. Or maybe it had something to do with Carona and Ogden being adoptive parents of children who were in foster care.

“For all the areas that we deal with in this budget and in this chamber that I don't know anything about, this is an area where on a personal, firsthand basis, I think I do know a little bit about,” Carona told his colleagues. “I've been there. I've seen what these children are put through. Some of our foster care people are wonderful. Some are not.”

Carona and his wife, their biological children grown, adopted a young son and daughter after first being certified as foster parents. He said his Senate speech was an impromptu result of that experience.

“For all the moments that we plan for on the floor of the Senate ... sometimes there are moments of spontaneity,” Carona said. “The safety, if you will, of these children was at stake.”

Ogden and his wife have a son who was in foster care, but Ogden said what makes a relevant difference for him is his wife's 18 months service as a caseworker.

“I had some pretty good insight from her experience,” Ogden said, adding, “For only $12 million more, you ... have a better shot at meeting a fairly bright marker (for monthly visits). ... It doesn't make sense not to do it. “

Joe Gagen of Texas CASA, which advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system and plans a rally on their behalf at the Capitol on Tuesday, said a personal connection makes a difference for legislators. It influences how they see an issue and “has a big impact on their colleagues,” he said.

It did in this case, senators said. Shapleigh said, “Carona's heartfelt comments turned the tide.”

Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound — who serves on Finance, chairs Health and Human Services and carried the bill that was amended to include the money for visits — said she'd wanted to add the money before but was told it wasn't available. “When Sen. Shapleigh spoke so eloquently ... and Sen. Carona spoke so passionately, it did help,” Nelson said. “I think it was kind of a neat sign that we do sometimes change minds around here.”