Don Hines makes no bones about it – when it comes to the unemployed,
the uninsured, the indigent, he is determined to help give them a voice.
And he is in just the position to do it.
Don Hines makes no bones about it – when it comes to the unemployed,
the uninsured, the indigent, he is determined to help give them a voice.
And he is in just the position to do it.
As a Louisiana senator for 12 years, Hines has championed causes to benefit
Louisianians in need.
Now, serving as Senate president, he insists that he plans to continue doing
the same.
“When it comes to the unemployed, the uninsured, the indigent and such,
I have to admit – Im liberal about helping them, …” said Hines,
who is a member at First Baptist Church of Bunkie.
“They dont have the lobbyists. They dont have the influence.
… I came down here thinking Id be the lobbyist for them. … And I plan
to continue speaking out for them.”
Perhaps it is Hines upbringing in rural Louisiana that fuels his passion
for those in need. Perhaps it is his experience as a rural family doctor in
the state for many years.
Perhaps it is his lifelong Baptist faith.
Likely, all three combine to fire the passion to help.
“Ive never made any money here, …” Hines says of his Senate
experience, acknowledging that some have sought to benefit themselves in the
past.
“I came here, hoping to make a difference – and I think I have,”
the Central Louisiana mainstay adds.
Ken Ward tends to agree with that assessment.
“Dr. Hines takes the role of a public servant very seriously,” says
Ward, executive director of the Louisiana Moral and Civic Foundation. “Both
his personal faith and his experiences as a physician have led him to very strong
convictions concerning the health and well-being of people, especially the ones
in our society who have not had access to proper health care.
“He is a very unselfish individual who seeks to discover what he believes
God would have him to do in a given situation and, then, is not easily deterred
by those who differ with him,” Ward adds.
“He is a man of prayer, and for those who are privileged to know him well,
a man of warmth and compassion.”
For his part, Hines cites three pieces of legislation he particularly is proud
to have helped pass –
A hospital preservation act that has allowed 39 facilities in rural
areas to remain open and provide needed medical services to those in their areas.
A health insurance program that has affected some 800,000 children
statewide, helping them receive needed care and grow up to be “healthier
human beings.”
A gene therapy research consortium that helped bring together key
universities in the state to work together in an exploding field of science.
“Its been a success story, …” Hines says of the effort, citing
the patents the consortium is seeking and the breakthroughs that are pending.
The same can be said of Hines and his rise to the pinnacle of the Louisiana
Senate, where he is part of a unique duo. For perhaps the first time in state
history – certainly the first time in living memory – the leaders
of both the state Senate and the state House of Representatives are Louisiana
Baptists. (Speaker of the House Joe Salter is a member and deacon at First Baptist
Church of Florien and was featured in a May 20, 2004 article in the Baptist
Message)
Hines journey to the Louisiana Senate began back in 1972, when he ran
for the local school board in Bunkie, where he served as a family doctor and
continues to serve as director of a rural health clinic.
“I backed into a challenge I couldnt walk away from,” Hines
says of his entry into the political world.
He served on the school board for 20 years and had a chance to be a part of
two statewide commissions. That opened his eyes to the possibilities of meeting
the needs of others on a wider front.
He ran for the state Senate once – only to lose.
Then, when the seat became open, he ran – and won.
He followed that same pattern in gaining the Senate presidency. Several years
ago, when a change was brewing, Hines thought he might be considered.
However, the governors support fell elsewhere – and he was forced
to wait. “But it was something I had my eye on, …” he admits. “I
just thought it was a way to advance an agenda for the state. And I felt I would
be able to bring people together for a common good and to be a fair and impartial
officer in the process.”
Following her election last fall, Gov. Kathleen Blanco agreed, throwing her
support to Hines. With that endorsement, he won the approval of fellow senators
this spring.
But while Hines is new to the Senate presidency, the same cannot be true to
his Baptist roots.
He still recalls his baptism at age 12 – he was accompanied by his mother
and father, who also were baptized that day at Beulah Baptist Church in Cheneyville.
However, faith is not something Hines broadcasts. As the late President Ronald
Reagan said of himself, Hines says he prefers not to wear his faith on his sleeve.
“Thats just not my personal style,” he says.
But the faith is there, affecting his work as a legislator in a positive way,
he adds. “Theres times you need strength to go the extra mile,”
Hines noted.
“And you only get that from faith.”
It is also part-and-parcel of his work as a physician.
At one point, Hines thought to be a farmer. However, he remembers the dusty,
hard work of planting and laughs.
“Dust was about to eat me up,” he says. “I decided that there
had to be a better way to make a living.”
Hines earned degrees from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Louisiana
State University in Baton Rouge, He then served as a flight surgeon in the U.S.
Navy.
Even then, he displayed his commitment to others, working to secure better
medical care for military dependents.
Then, it was years of service as what Hines calls “a country doctor.”
During those years, he says he also saw evidence of faith at work.
“Some things happened to me in the medical arena that I just felt like
there had to have been some kind of divine intervention,” he says. “There
was no other explanation.”
For Hines, that fueled a confidence in the power of prayer. “Prayer helps
out,” he insists. “Im a strong believer in prayer. Ive
seen a lot of things happen medically.”
Hines also is a strong believer in friendship – and later, he speaks of
the opportunity to serve with B.G. Dyess, a fellow Louisiana Baptist who recently
was a state senator. He laughs as he tells of a couple of incidents in which
he and Dyess found themselves isolated on a couple of issues – and yet
stood together nonetheless.
Finally, he reaffirms his conviction that direct contact – “especially
back at home, in the home area” – is the best way to influence legislators
and issues.
“A lot of times, we as legislators just dont know how things being
discussed here are affecting people back home,” he notes. “We need
to hear from them.”
Minutes later, Hines asks one of his departing visitors that morning to relay
a message to a mutual friend – and for a moment, the pressures of presiding
over the sometimes-contentious proceedings of the state Senate are forgotten.
First Baptist Church of Bunkie has been in a pastorless position for some time
now – and the toll is beginning to show, Hines explains.
“So, you tell him to help find us a pastor,” he offers as a message
to the friend. “You have to have a pastor.”