STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey
recently signed a bill, HB 2312, sponsored by Rep. Albert Hale, D-St. Michaels
(District 7), that will increase Native American representation on the Arizona
Advisory Council on Indian Health Care. The bill requires the governor to
appoint a member from each of Arizona’s 22 Indian Nations to the
council.
Sen.
Carlyle Begay, R-Ganado (District 7), also worked on this legislation in the
Arizona Senate. Hale expressed his gratitude to Begay and others who contributed
to improving the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care’s representation
of Native American communities.
“I want
to thank Sen. Begay, the Advisory Council, and the Inter Tribal Council of
Arizona for their hard work on this essential expansion of Native American
representation on this advisory council,” Hale said. “I also appreciate all the
support my colleagues have shown for this issue.”
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.
Gov.
Ducey signed the bill days after it won final passage in the legislature.
“I thank
the governor for signing this legislation,” Hale said. “The Arizona Advisory
Council on Indian Health Care can now be better connected to the communities it
serves.”
Hale
will retire from the Legislature this year, and during the final vote on this
measure, he told his colleagues that he has enjoyed the time he has spent
serving in both the House and the Senate.
“I’ve
been able to serve at the Legislature for 16 years, and I am grateful for that
time,” Hale said. “I am also happy to return to my community and looking forward
to the next chapter of my life.”
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.
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