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MONTANA

Social calendars posted online

HELENA | The Montana legislature is offering its constituents food for thought by posting its 2009 calendar of brunches and mixers sponsored by special-interest groups online for the first time.

The electronic posting of the legislature's social calendar strengthens openness in government, said House Speaker Bob Bergren.

"We want to make sure this [legislative session] is a transparent process," Mr. Bergren said.

He said it's also better than a paper calendar for keeping the state's 150 legislators informed.

Other states, including New Mexico and Nevada, also put their legislatures' social calendars on the Web, but the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver was unsure how many do so.

At many of these events, lawmakers are offered free meals at the expense of special-interest groups. In Montana, the state Chamber of Commerce hosted last week's "Eggs and Issues," the Nature Conservancy offered lunch, and the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America is planning a bistro reception this week.

"One of the concerns people have is who's talking to legislators, who's got their ear," said Lorne Malkiewich of the Legislative Counsel Bureau in Nevada, where the legislature's social calendar has been on the Web since 1999.

RHODE ISLAND