APPROVED CHAPTER
MARCH 28, 2024 581
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
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H.P. 1252 - L.D. 1948
An Act to Amend the State's Data Governance Program
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §547, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 717, §1, is amended to read:
§547. Data governance program established
The Secretary of State, or the secretary's designee, and the Chief Information Officer
Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services, or the commissioner's designee,
shall establish a data governance program.
1. Implementation. Implementation of a data governance program must include:
A. Establishing data project priorities;
B. Ensuring data privacy compliance and that best practices are followed;
C. Developing data structure policies that ensure the best data quality, alignment and
availability across systems; and
D. Establishing data-sharing policies and agreements.
2. Program requirements. The data governance program must:
A. Support decision making and improve citizen access to government services;
B. Promote consistent collection of racial and ethnic demographic data;
C. Use evidence-based strategies to improve data collection;
D. Address technology barriers that restrict the ability of state agencies to share data
between agencies;
E. Create models for sharing data with the public and for developing policies to reduce
disparities and increase equity that take into consideration the norms and expectations
of the diverse populations of the State;
F. Include records management capabilities and compliance; and
G. Ensure that data sharing and usage complies with state and federal laws, rules and
regulations.; and
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 H. Adhere to the records retention schedules developed by the State Archivist pursuant
to Title 5, section 95-C.
3. Consultations. Within 30 days of the effective date of this chapter, and at least
quarterly thereafter, the The Secretary of State, or the secretary's designee, and the Chief
Information Officer Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services, or the
commissioner's designee, shall consult at least quarterly with:
A. The Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal
Populations established by Title 5, section 12004‑J, subsection 19 to discuss how racial
equity will be incorporated in the data governance program as well as in all projects
related to the program. The consultation must include discussion of methods for
building racial equity considerations into every aspect of the data life cycle, including
planning, data collection, data access, algorithms, statistical tools, data analysis,
reporting and dissemination; and
B. The State Archivist, or the archivist's designee, regarding the development and
implementation of the data governance program and to generate a records management
and retention plan and program in compliance with Title 5, section 95‑C.
4. Report. The Secretary of State, or the secretary's designee, the Chief Information
Officer Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services, or the commissioner's
designee, and the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal
Populations established by Title 5, section 12004‑J, subsection 19 shall jointly report on
the status of the program and the consultations under subsection 3 to the joint standing
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state and local government matters
annually by February 15 15th. The committee may report out a bill based on the report
during the legislative session in which the report is received.
5. State agency designee. Each state agency shall designate an employee with the
responsibility to oversee the agency's compliance with the data governance program
established pursuant to this section.
6. Inventory. The Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services, or the
commissioner's designee, shall work with the state agency designees under subsection 5 to
inventory the collection and availability of demographic data fields by the state agency,
including, but not limited to, gender, location, race, ethnicity, birth sex, citizenship,
socioeconomic status, education, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability status and
age. This inventory is distinct from the definitions and standards developed pursuant to
subsection 7 and is not itself data collection.
7. Definitions and standards. The Commissioner of Administrative and Financial
Services, or the commissioner's designee, shall develop a definition and standard for certain
demographic data fields, including, but not limited to, gender, location, race, ethnicity, birth
sex, citizenship, socioeconomic status, education, sexual orientation, veteran status,
disability status and age. The definitions and standards must be developed in consultation
with the Department of the Secretary of State and the Permanent Commission on the Status
of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations established by Title 5, section 12004-J,
subsection 19.
8. Stakeholder group. To the extent resources are available, the Commissioner of
Administrative and Financial Services, or the commissioner's designee, shall work with the
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Department of the Secretary of State and the Permanent Commission on the Status of
Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations established by Title 5, section 12004-J,
subsection 19 to convene a stakeholder group at least once each year to review progress in
developing and implementing the data governance program. When inviting members to the
stakeholder group, consideration must be given to racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic
and other demographic diversity.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 581: 1.547