Maine Government News
Maine’s Stimulus Recovery Web Site Offers Expanded Transparency at www.MaineRecovery.gov
January 27, 2010
Maine.gov Web Portal
AUGUSTA, Maine – January 25, 2010 – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci announced the availability of an updated dynamic Web site, http://www.MaineRecovery.gov , that provides enhanced public transparency for Maine project and expenditure information for federal Recovery Act funding awarded to state agencies.
The initial Maine Recovery Web site launched on Feb. 4, 2009 and delivered regularly updated American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) information as well as overview of the funding awarded to Maine state agencies. The enhanced site offers an expanded degree of detail about funded projects and programs in addition to specific expenditures to date for each project. Data for awards, projects and expenditures are provided directly by state agencies on a quarterly basis and include additional details beyond those required for federal reports.
“Putting this information at the fingertips of Maine citizens gives them the transparency they want and deserve about how we are putting Recovery Act funds to the best possible use in Maine,” said Governor Baldacci. “Maine’s enhanced transparency site reflects our commitment to make this information searchable, user-friendly, and easy to understand. We are pleased that we are able to deliver this level of detail and accountability.”
Maine’s expanded transparency Web site includes several user-friendly new features:
- Ability to search by project, agency, category, location, and more
- Detailed information about projects funded by Recovery Act dollars
- Dynamic mapping of project locations
- Charts and graphs displaying project location within Maine
- Total jobs created and saved across Maine
- Total dollars awarded and spent
- Details of project sub-awards
- Vendor payments and payment details
- Data export capability per project or complete quarterly data export
The enhanced transparency site also collects public comments and feedback through the site to measure citizen response to Maine’s recovery spending and the effectiveness of the MaineRecovery.gov web site.
Lance Boucher, Director of Recovery Initiatives, provided oversight for the project. “This Web site empowers the public and moves Maine state government to a new level of openness and transparency,” he said. “This type of data provides a great example of how technology can be used to deliver government information in a whole new way.”
The Maine Recovery site was developed under the direction of Governor John Baldacci, Ryan Low, Commissioner of The Department of Administrative & Financial Services (DAFS), and Chief Information Officer Richard Thompson, in partnership with InforME, the state’s eGovernment services provider.
