I didn’t have a chance to post this last week, so this may be old news to some. The Montana Democratic Party has launched a Web site, Montana Capital Report, that will “provide daily updates on the action of the Montana Legislature.”
“We will provide individual legislators the opportunity to post to the site. It will give voters a new way to hear from their legislators,” Representative Art Noonan, who is also the Executive Director of the Montana Democratic Party, said in an e-mail.
At the beginning of the 61st state Legislature, the state GOP debuted the Rotunda Report, where Republican lawmakers have been blogging this session. Both Web sites are equally impressive and a sign that legislators are making a concerted effort to be more accessible to their respective constituents.
Here’s the Dems’ full release::
Helena – Montana Democrats have launched a new website to provide information on the Montana Legislature. www.MtCapitolReport.org will provide daily updates of the action of the Montana Legislature. “We will provide individual legislators the opportunity to post to the site. It will give voters a new way to hear from their legislators,” said Representative Art Noonan, who is also the Executive Director of the Montana Democratic Party.
The new website will be updated every day the legislature is in session. “We hope to add new features to it as we go along, and our goal is to make it interesting by allowing individual legislators to add their comments and observations about the legislative process.” Noonan said. The site provides links to daily committee hearings, the House and Senate Floor agenda and to other news sources about the legislature.
Many legislators already have their own websites, and almost all Democratic legislators have personal email addresses that allow constituents to contact them directly. “The Obama campaign taught us all a lot about the importance of technology in communicating with our constituents directly. We are committed to doing a better job of reaching out to the people of Montana,” Noonan said.