The Arizona Association of Chiropractic (AAC) will be holding their first annual legislative conference Jan. 29, 1998 in the capital city of Phoenix, home to the state's lawmakers.
The conference is modeled on the National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC), an event held every March in Washington, D.C., where 250-300 chiropractors discuss health care issues tete-a-tete with their national legislators. The AAC board and legislative committee members attend the NCLC each year.
The inaugural AAC legislative conference will kick off when district delegates meet in the morning with their state legislators to deliver thousands of patient petitions that support passing direct access and freedom of choice legislation.
The highlight event will be a chiropractic barbecue on the front lawn of the Arizona State Capitol. Invited speakers include Governor Jane Hull (R); Arizona Senate Majority Whip Gary Richardson (R); Arizona Speaker of the House Jeff Groscost (R), and Brenda Burns (R), president of the Arizona Senate. The barbecue will be served during the legislators' lunch break, giving all the lawmakers the opportunity to attend.
Arizona politics have been a bit wild of late. You'll recall that Governor Fife Symington was forced to resign his office last September. Because the state has no lieutenant governor post, Secretary of State Jane Hull inherited the position for the remainder of Symington's term. Gov. Hull will run for governor as the incumbent this November.
Meeting with their state senators and representatives is an idea that more state associations are putting into practice. And while legislators are targets for every special interest group imaginable, such interpersonal contact can help build lasting relationships and foster the needs of the chiropractic profession and its patients.
The Arizona Association of Chiropractic is to be commended for its initiative. It's a fine example of grassroots politics.
