As lawmakers voted to table Hanna's Act, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes were hosting a conference in Polson on missing and murdered indigenous women. Asked about the vote, Tribal Police Chief Craige Couture said of the bill, "I think it would have been helpful."

With missing persons cases, he said, "You have so many different agencies trying to do the same thing, and no one does it the same. I think having one place to stop and one person to be the advocate (to) do that would be helpful, because then they could actually compile the information."

Before voting against the bill, Sen. Jennifer Fielder, a Republican from Thompson Falls, said she didn't think the problem could be addressed with another position in state government. Fielder also said she wanted to see tribal governments pay for a share of the program. She voted against the bill.

"The question that I've had on my mind since hearing the testimony was whether or not adding another person to state government is going to solve the problem. I'm afraid it won't," Fielder said.