Aaron Pena of Edinburg ponders another run at the Legislature

By ELIZABETH HERNANDEZ

elizabethh@valleystar.com

512-323-0622

AUSTIN — Rep. Aaron Pena, 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 Valley is coming to a close.

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

Pena’s 16-year-old son died May 18, 2001, of a drug overdose at a party. Pena was elected to the House in 2002 after promising in the 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,” Pena said.

Pena, 47, said he did not know when he would decide definitively whether to run for another two-year term. His 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 is dedicated to building a treatment facility to serve people who don’t have insurance. Pena said he plans to continue to work to make the treatment center top-quality, especially because the border is at the front lines of the flow of drugs into the United States.

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

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