MONTANANS FOR MULTIPLE USE
2009 Legislative Session
TOOLS FOR EMAILING LEGISLATORS
If you have the time, phone or fax or go to the webform on the Legislature's website rather than email. These messages will be placed in their Capitol Building mailbox or on their desk and are more likely to be read than emails. But with phone or fax you can only send to a few representatives at a time or to each member of a committee. On the webform you can only send to one representative at a time. The phone messages are dictated to an operator and must be very short. The webform is limited to 250 characters - basically one paragraph. If you are short of time or you can't get to a fax machine or make a phone call during the day or you want to send a long message or a message to the full Senate or House, your best bet might then be emailing. Phone message - 406 444-4800 House Fax Line - 406 444 - 4825 Senate Fax Line - 406 444-4875
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE EMAILS
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Keep messages short and to the point |
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ALWAYS put the bill number in the subject line. You can add another word or two but remember that whatever you put here should inform them about the subject of the email and entice them to open the message. |
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Open with "Dear Senator:" or "Dear Representative:" If this is an email to only one representative, include their name |
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Repeat the bill number in the first line of the message |
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State whether you oppose or support the bill. You can do this at the beginning or the end. It depends on whether you think they are more likely to read the message if they don't know up front what your position is. |
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State why you oppose or support |
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Suggest amendments that would make the bill better. |
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Thank them for their work on your behalf |
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Sign off with your full name and address. Phone number is optional |
We have broken up the full House and full Senate email tool into groups of 20 or less email addresses because spam filters are more likely to kick emails with a large number of addresses into the junk mail folder. If you have the time, it might be wise to reduce these even further by cutting and pasting half the addresses from the email form that comes up into another brand new email. Make sure there are no spaces or semi-colons before the first address or after the last. Leave each email form open after altering the address line. You will now have several email forms open. Copy and paste in the subject and then copy and paste the message in each. Then send em. Montanans For Multiple Use thanks you for your efforts on behalf of public access and multiple use on our public lands.
These links are now active
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To send an email to a specific committee return to the Watch-List and click on the committee name next to the bill you are interested in.
