Peña: ‘I feel like my work here is done’

AUSTIN — State Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, strongly suggested in an interview Friday evening that he might not run again for the Legislature now that his six-year quest to have a drug treatment center built in the Rio Grande Valley is coming to a close.

The final version of the state budget presented Friday includes $3 million to build a treatment center in Edinburg. He and other Valley lawmakers have pushed for the facility.

Peña’s 16-year-old son died May 18, 2001, of a drug overdose at a party. Peña was elected to the House in 2002 after promising in his campaign to improve access to substance-abuse treatment.

“When I first ran, my commitment was to build a drug treatment center, and now that it’s done, I feel like my work is done here,” Peña said.

Peña, 47, said he did not know when he would make a final decision whether to run for another two-year term. His current term ends in January 2009.

“It’s like you run a race and you’ve finished,” he said. “I never expected to finish this quickly. I don’t need to run again. I’m going to go home and reflect and enjoy my time with family and decide whether I want to do this again.”

The $3 million set aside in the budget is dedicated to building a treatment facility to serve people who don’t have insurance. Peña said he plans to continue to work to make the treatment center top-quality, especially because the Texas border with Mexico is at the front line of the flow of drugs into the United States.

He learned from budget-writers on May 18 — the anniversary of his son’s death — that the money would be including in the state’s spending plan, he said.

____

Elizabeth Hernandez covers the state capital for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Austin and can be reached at (512) 323-0622.