Missoula County staff told the county board that they are working to reconcile information from the state Legislature’s website with the county’s new tracking tools and have begun sending position messages to committees and legislators.

The staff member who led the update said the county has sent “about a half dozen messages” so far and described progress in locating floor agendas on the state site: “I would say we’re very excited about that,” the staff member said. The same staff member said the county intends to create a weekly report of the positions and messages it sends and to attach a monthly summary to an administrative agenda “under statute.”

County staff described how they choose recipients. The staff member said messages go directly to the legislators on the committee hearing a bill and, in some cases, to an entire committee — for example, the county would send a message to the whole committee if an item like Medicaid expansion reaches that stage. When a bill is on the floor, the county generally sends a message to the county’s legislative delegation.

On process, staff said they centralize outgoing messages so responses can be tracked. “They all come from me so that we can track those,” a staff member said, adding that the approach helps the county keep responses and follow-ups in a single location.

Board members and staff also discussed sharing the workload of monitoring hearings. One county official proposed that two staff or officials rotate attendance at a weekly meeting so the delegation does not feel “too distant” from developments; staff said such a rotation could be arranged.

No formal action was taken at the meeting on the county’s legislative process. The discussion was described as an update and planning for internal tracking and communication.