State Senator Owen H. Johnson (4th Senate District, Babylon), Chairman of the Finance Committee, recently met in his Albany office with Jacqueline Reinhard, Executive Director of the Greater New York Chapter of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALS), and James McGarrity of North Babylon, who lost his wife to ALS in 2004, to discuss the need for funding to help find a cure for ALS -- also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe, while the mind often remains unaffected. Every day, an average of 15 people are diagnosed with ALS and as many as 30,000 Americans are currently living with the disease.