SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Lawmakers honored World Autism Day Wednesday by backing a series of bills meant to expand services for families affected by autism.

The bills call for early testing and treatment, expanded special education credentials for teaching autistic children, and better health plan coverage.

Actor Gary Cole joined lawmakers at the Capitol to talk about his daughter, who was 2 years old when she was diagnosed with autism in 1995.

"When you don't have enough information, sometimes fear can get the best of people," Cole said.

However, in a bad budget year, some critics wonder if the bill's authors are guilty of bad timing.

"This is a defining year, this is the time we either decide what California is going to be, or we'll become a second-class state, we'll become a second-class educational institution, followed by a second-class economy," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said.

"I'm sure that there will be significant concerns from the insurance industry about this," Sen. Darrell Steinberg said.

One in every 150 children has some form of autism, and it's become the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the nation.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the courage of children with autism and their families on the first World Autism Awareness Day, calling Wednesday for all countries to respond to their needs.