At the end of a contentious battle over the state’s budget and a shutdown of state government, funding for the Maine Office of GIS (MeGIS) was eliminated.
Jon Giles, Chair of the Maine GeoLibrary, led a statewide campaign to support reinstatement of funding for the MeGIS, which provides staff support for the Maine GeoLibrary and its programs. Under his leadership, the GeoLibrary Board informed the state’s GIS community to this issue, which resulted in an outpouring of calls, emails, and letters to the Governor’s office and legislative leaders to emphasizing the public’s need for geospatial data and the services that MeGIS and the GeoLibrary provides. The Governor has requested the legislature convene an emergency session to address the MeGIS funding issue and one other issue of statewide importance. Meetings with senior legislative leaders indicate that funding will be restored and the office will continue with its original budget request granted.
