Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS)

Kristen Figueroa, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, will retire on Oct. 31.

The University of Maine received notice from the EPA that its previously terminated $1.6 million grant for PFAS research has now been fully funded. It's one of 16 UMaine System awards that have been restored.

Thousands of state workers will receive the payments, beginning next month. A third-party study of the state's pay classification system, however, won't be finished until the end of next year.

State revenue is projected to remain relatively flat through the next couple of fiscal years, after a period of strong growth that peaked in FY 2022.

A new report says a 2020 compensation analysis is out of date, and that the state should try new methods of staying current with the employment market.

Maine officials said some of the state's software had been accessed as part of an ongoing global cyberattack. People who have had contact with state agencies could have lost personal information to the data thieves.

The online portal, which is being rolled out in phases, aims to make it easier to pay, file and manage state taxes.

The Maine Tax Portal will replace Maine Revenue Services' current online services on May 31. The agency has opened the new portal to more than 140,000 business taxpayers for filing and payment of various business taxes.