NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release
	Contact: Erin Hutchins erin@informe.org InforME (207) 621-2600 x32

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AUGUSTA, Maine – February 13, 2008 – The Maine Ethics Commission is pleased to announce the availability of an online lobbyist registration service. This new service allows lobbyists and lobbyist associates to complete the required annual registration application and pay the applicable fees online with a credit card. The service is available online through the state’s official Web site at http://www.Maine.gov or at http://www.maine.gov/online/ethics/lobbyreg.

The online service provides a convenient alternative to the paper application lobbyists were previously required to complete, making the annual registration process quick and easy. Visa and MasterCard credit card payments are handled securely by the Cybertrust-certified Maine.gov payment server. Once the online screens are completed, users will receive an instant confirmation that their registration application is complete.

“The lobbying community is a very tech-savvy group,” noted Jonathan Wayne, Director of the Maine Ethics Commission. “An online registration form for lobbyists has been requested for some time now. Our goals for this project were to provide a registration site that is intuitive, secure, and considerate of the fact that lobbyists want to complete this task as quickly as possible.”

In addition to the time-saving benefits the online service offers to lobbyists, the Ethics Commission is also benefiting from the site. Previously, the lobbyist registrar was required to verify all registration applications manually. Once verified, the data from the paper applications was typed into the Commission’s database by the registrar. In contrast, the online service eliminates the need for manual verifications and additional data entry by automatically checking each application for completeness and saving data directly into the Commission’s database.

The Maine Lobbyist Registration online application and payment service launched on January 11, 2008, and was built through partnerships with InforME, the state’s e-government portal, and Quest Internet Solutions. The Maine Ethics Commission already provides e-filing for lobbyists and plans to provide additional online services this year.

About Maine.gov
Maine.gov (http://www.Maine.gov) is the official Web portal of the State of Maine and a six-time winner in the Center for Digital Government’s Best of Web competition. Maine.gov is a service of the Information Resource of Maine (InforME), a collaborative effort between the State of Maine and Maine Information Network, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV).

About NIC
NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,600 state and local agencies that serve more than 69 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at www.nicusa.com.

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