House unanimously approves Hale’s measure to update the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Healthcare

Press Release 

STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX – The House of Representatives unanimously approved HB 2312, a bill Rep. Albert Hale, D-St. Michaels (District 7), sponsored to expand Native American representation on the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care. The bill would require the governor to appoint a member from each of Arizona’s 22 Indian Nations to the Council.

Hale said that he and Sen. Carlyle Begay, R-Gando (District 7), who introduced a similar bill in the Arizona Senate, worked closely with the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care and the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona on this legislation.

“I would like to thank Sen. Begay, the Advisory Council and the ITCA for their work on this important legislation,” Hale said.

The bill also clarifies the Council’s purpose, which is to provide Native American governments and health care organizations a role in shaping the health care laws and policies that affect the communities they serve. The Council’s website, with information about upcoming meetings, can be found here.

“The Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care should be better connected to the communities it serves, and bringing more voices to the table will help to achieve that,” Rep. Hale said. “I appreciate the support my colleagues have shown for this issue, and I will continue to work with them to make this change happen.”

For more information on HB 2312, or to read it in full, click here.

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Rep. Hale is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He was born in Ganado and raised in Klagetoh, Arizona. He is Ashiihi (Salt), born for Todichiini (Bitter Water). His maternal grandparents are Hanaghani (Walk About clan). His paternal grandparents are Kiyanii (Tall House clan). He is a 1969 graduate of Fort Wingate High School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school located east of Gallup, New Mexico. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (1973), and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico (1977), and an honorary Juris Doctor degree from Phoenix School of Law (2012).  He is the former President of the Navajo Nation.