Lawmaker stands up
By speaking out, Kingwood Republican helps erode the stigma tied to alcoholism.
After Kingwood Republican Dan Huberty won his first race for the House in 2010, his legislative colleagues soon learned what his constituents back home already knew: The former chair of the Humble ISD school board was smart, knowledgeable about school finance and serious enough about substantive state issues to work with anybody, Republican or Democrat, to get things done. Calling him a landslide choice for “Rookie of the Year,” Texas Monthly noted that he was “self-assured, diligent and willing and able to handle tough issues.”
He went on to chair the House Education Committee and championed last session’s long time-coming landmark reform of Texas’ school finance system.
But last week when Huberty addressed his colleagues on the House floor, it wasn’t as chairman, a title he no longer carries in his sixth session. He didn’t speak about education or property taxes or any other legislative concern.
“My name is Dan,” he said, “and I’m an alcoholic.”
Huberty’s painful and contrite confession came in the wake of his arrest in Montgomery County on the night of April 23, when he ran a red light and crashed his black Corvette into an SUV while driving home from Austin. Three occupants of the SUV suffered minor injuries.
A video viewed thousands of times on YouTube shows a Montgomery County Precinct 4 deputy constable handcuffing the gray-haired lawmaker and hauling him off to jail, where he was charged with driving while intoxicated.
“What about my phone?” he asks the deputy in a quiet voice as she opens the back door of her vehicle and ushers him in. The video ends with Huberty’s sleek Corvette, its sloped hood scraped and dented, being hauled off into the night at the tail end of a tow truck.
Huberty would no doubt agree that he should have confronted his alcohol demon long ago. There have been signs along the way in recent years that it was getting the best of him.
“I have had a problem with alcohol for my entire adult life,” he told his colleagues last week, his voice betraying a slight quiver. ”While I have been sober for 23 of the last 30 years, it became clear to me in the last several months that I desperately needed help. I was embarrassed to ask and candidly did not know how to get the help that I needed.”
He apologized to his family, his constituents, his colleagues in government and the people whose SUV he hit. He pledged to be conscientious about working through the 12-step program that’s at the core of Alcoholics Anonymous. Texas House members gave him a standing ovation when he finished his remarks.
Fortunately, no one had to die or suffer serious injuries before Huberty faced up to his illness. We too applaud his courage in using his public platform and the floor of a prestigious institution to testify to his personal struggle, and we hope that it both served to educate Texans on the power of drug addiction and remind those battling the same demons that they are not alone and there is no shame in asking for help.
Huberty is hardly the first to be waylaid by alcoholism — the late Gov. Ann W. Richards and former governor and president George W. Bush spring to mind. But as a public figure, Huberty has a special responsibility as a role model. His mission from here on out, regardless of what he does on education policy and other important issues, is to continue to educate others on the perils of alcoholism, to the alcoholic and to society at large.
By standing up and speaking out, he can help erode the stigma that often prevents alcoholics from confronting their illness. He also can remind his legislative colleagues and his constituents that alcoholics, like those addicted to other drugs, need treatment, not just punishment. They need hospital beds, not just jail cells.
Of course, that’s not to minimize drunken driving, which remains, as Mothers Against Drunk Driving reminds us, the No. 1 cause of death on our roadways. A person driving under the influence must face the legal consequences of their actions, and Huberty is no exception.
“Alcoholism is a serious disease, one that is becoming a pandemic in itself,” he said last week.
As Texas Monthly noted years ago, he’s a man who’s “willing and able to handle tough issues.” We wish Rep. Huberty strength and perseverance as he confronts what could be his toughest battle for reform.