Legislator
Legislator > Aaron Dana
State Representative
Aaron Dana
(NP) - Maine
Maine House Tribal Representative - Passamaquoddy
In Office - Started: 10/01/2022
contact info
Capitol Office
Office of the Clerk of the House
2 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0002
2 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0002
Phone: 800-423-2900
Phone 2: 207-287-1400
| Bill | Bill Name | Summary | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| LD957 | An Act to Integrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander History into the Statewide System of Learning Results | This bill includes instruction on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history in the Department of Education's required units of instruction on American history and Maine studies. The bill requires the department to convene a volunteer advisory committee to collect information and prepare materials for teaching Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history and to develop and provide guidance, best practices and exemplar modules to local school administrative units to integrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history into their curriculum. The bill also requires the department to develop a process to enable a local school administrative unit to conduct an internal audit of its curriculum to ensure an equitable representation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voices and an accurate historical account of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history and culture. The bill also requires the department to submit a report on the progress of the implementation of this legislation to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs no later than April 1, 2030. | Passed |
| LD1164 | An Act to Create Economic Opportunity for the Wabanaki Nations Through Internet Gaming | This bill authorizes each federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in this State to operate Internet gaming pursuant to a license from the Gambling Control Unit within the Department of Public Safety. Only a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in this State is eligible to obtain a license and operate Internet gaming. The licensing structure follows the law governing sports wagering. | Passed |
| LD1500 | An Act to Establish the Maine Community Development Financial Institution Fund to Support Small Businesses, Rural Economic Development and Affordable Housing | This bill establishes the Maine Community Development Financial Institution Fund and the Maine Community Development Financial Institution Program within the Department of Economic and Community Development. The program will provide loans and grants to community development financial institutions to provide financing to underserved communities in Maine. The bill also requires a $500,000 transfer from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund to the fund. | Passed |
| LD1661 | An Act to Establish a Comprehensive and Interagency Approach to Invasive Species Management | This bill establishes the Maine Invasive Species Advisory Council and the Comprehensive Invasive Species Management Office to evaluate and prioritize invasive species management across all taxa and coordinate interagency collaboration to accomplish invasive species prevention, management, education and outreach. | In Committee |
| LD876 | An Act to Support the Maine Service Fellows Program | This bill provides ongoing funds for 20 program fellows to participate in the Maine Service Fellows Program. The bill also directs the Maine Commission for Community Service, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, to compile a list of volunteers who are available at the request of the Governor during states of emergency to provide emergency response and support services in coordination with the Maine Emergency Management Agency. | Passed |
| LD1474 | An Act to Strengthen the Teaching of Wabanaki Studies in Maine Schools | This bill establishes the position of Wabanaki studies specialist in the Department of Education to ensure the inclusion of Wabanaki studies in the parameters for essential instruction and graduation requirements and requires the department to provide ongoing funding for the work of the specialist as well as contracted Wabanaki advisors to advance the implementation of the instruction of Wabanaki studies across the State, including funding that school administrative units can apply for to fund Wabanaki studies resources. The bill also directs the State Board of Education to adopt rules to require the completion of a Wabanaki studies component in the qualifications for certifying teachers and requires the department to provide funding for contracted Wabanaki advisors and educators to work with the Wabanaki studies specialist to create and implement short-term courses that must be made available to all teachers throughout the State. | Passed |
| LD395 | An Act to Restore Access to Federal Laws Beneficial to the Wabanaki Nations | This bill: 1. Establishes new findings within the Maine Implementing Act to distinguish legislative findings relevant to this bill from the findings made during the enactment of the original 1980 Implementing Act. Separate but identical findings are included for the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. These findings describe the effect of Section 6(h) and Section 16(b) of the federal Settlement Act, United States Public Law 96-420, in precluding the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians from benefiting from federal laws and regulations that are generally applicable to or enacted for the benefit of Indians or relate to a special status or right of Indian nations or tribes or bands of Indians or to lands owned by or held in trust for Indians, Indian nations or tribes or bands of Indians if such law or regulation affects or preempts the civil, criminal or regulatory jurisdiction of this State, including, without limitation, laws of this State relating to land use or environmental matters. The findings describe the purposes of the amendments to the Maine Implementing Act included in this legislation regarding the application of state and federal law to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; 2. Adds separate but identical sections to the Maine Implementing Act that apply to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and that describe the application of federal and state law to each. Regarding state law, the language provides that any law of this State that would be affected or preempted by the operation, application or implementation of any statute or regulation of the United States that accords a special status or right to or relates to a special status or right of any Indian, Indian nation, tribe or band of Indians, Indian lands, Indian reservations, Indian country, Indian territory or land held in trust for Indians does not apply, except as specifically provided in the Act; 3. Regarding federal law, provides that any statute or regulation of the United States enacted before, on or after October 10, 1980 that accords a special status or right to or relates to a special status or right of any Indian, Indian nation, tribe or band of Indians, Indian lands, Indian reservations, Indian country, Indian territory or land held in trust for Indians is applicable within this State, without regard to any effect on the application of the laws of this State, except as specifically provided; 4. Provides that modification of the application of the laws of this State is limited to those particular circumstances in which the application of the laws of this State would conflict or interfere with the actual operation, application or implementation of a statute or regulation of the United States that accords a special status or right to or relates to a special status or right of any Indian, Indian nation, tribe or band of Indians, Indian lands, Indian reservations, Indian country, Indian territory or land held in trust for Indians. If the operation, application or implementation of any statute or regulation of the United States in this State would result in the absence of any law or regulation applicable to a matter of public health or safety, including without limitation laws relating to land use or environmental matters, the corresponding laws of the State with respect to that health or safety matter apply to fill any regulatory gap; 5. Describes a process by which the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians are to notify the Attorney General in the event they believe that a law of this State does not apply by virtue of the amendments proposed by this legislation; 6. Provides that the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians may conduct gaming activities only in accordance with the laws of this State and may not conduct gaming activities under the authority of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or under any regulations promulgated under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act by the chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission or its successor organization; 7. Provides that the laws of this State applicable to the crimes and juvenile crimes described in this legislation apply to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians as provided in this legislation; the statutes and regulations of the United States that conflict with or affect or preempt the jurisdiction of this State over crimes and juvenile crimes described in this legislation do not apply in this State; and the federal laws identified in Section 6(c) of United States Public Law 96-420 do not apply in this State; 8. Provides that the federal Clean Water Act, the federal Water Quality Act of 1987, the federal Clean Air Act and the federal Indian Mineral Development Act of 1982, as well as all future amendments to those laws, do not apply to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and Mi'kmaq Nation and their Indian territory or trust land to the extent the provisions affect or preempt the application of the laws of this State and extend the jurisdiction of the tribe, nation or band beyond their Indian territory or trust land, unless such provisions are specifically made applicable within the State; 9. Provides that, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the State, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians agree and intend that each tribe, nation or band has the power to enact laws and ordinances relating to the operation, application and implementation of any statute or regulation of the United States enacted before, on or after October 10, 1980 that accords a special status or right to or relates to a special status or right of any Indian, Indian nation, tribe or band of Indians, Indian lands, Indian reservations, Indian country, Indian territory or land held in trust for Indians, except as otherwise provided; 10. Creates a new chapter within the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30 pertaining to the Mi'kmaq Nation with provisions that mirror those applicable to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; 11. Adds contingent effective date language specific to each tribe, nation or band; and 12. Adds contingent repeal language. | In Committee |
| LD461 | An Act to Fund Rural Patrol Services in Washington County | This bill provides funding for 4 Maine State Trooper positions and related All Other to conduct rural patrols in Washington County. | Passed |
| LD958 | An Act to Prohibit Eminent Domain on Existing Tribal Trust Lands | This bill amends the Act to Implement the Maine Indian Claims Settlement and the Mi'kmaq Nation Restoration Act to prevent the taking of land for public uses under the laws of this State if the land is located within Passamaquoddy Indian territory, Penobscot Indian territory, the Houlton Band Trust Land or the Mi'kmaq Nation Trust Land. | Vetoed |
| LD260 | RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Establish That All Maine Residents Have Equal Rights Under the Law | This resolution proposes to amend the Constitution of Maine to prohibit the denial or abridgment by the State or any political subdivision of the State of equal rights based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, physical or mental disability, ancestry or national origin of an individual. | Passed |
| LD311 | An Act to Improve Efficiency of Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities by Requiring the Designation of State Inspectors as Essential | This bill requires the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to designate state inspectors authorized to perform inspection functions under the laws governing meat and poultry inspections essential to the operations of establishments at which inspection of the slaughter of livestock or poultry or the preparation of livestock products or poultry products occurs. The bill also directs the commissioner to require, rather than authorize as in current law, inspection to continue at such an establishment on state holidays or beyond the regular work shift or workweek for state inspectors as long as the necessary inspectors are available and the establishment pays all overtime salaries for inspections necessary to keep the plant open and other expenses caused by the overtime employment. | Passed |
| LD1933 | Resolve, to Study Pathways for Tribal Law Enforcement Officers to Receive a Waiver for the Maine Criminal Justice Academy Basic Law Enforcement Training Requirement | Resolve, to Study Pathways for Tribal Law Enforcement Officers to Receive a Waiver for the Maine Criminal Justice Academy Basic Law Enforcement Training Requirement | | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| LD1672 | An Act to Allow Participation in the Adult Use Cannabis Tracking System to Be Voluntary | This bill amends the Cannabis Legalization Act to provide that a cannabis establishment licensee may voluntarily elect, but is not required, to use the tracking system for adult use cannabis and adult use cannabis products implemented and administered by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Office of Cannabis Policy. The office is directed to adopt major substantive rules regarding minimum inventory control system and other requirements that must be satisfied by a licensee that does not voluntarily elect to use that tracking system implemented and administered by the office. The bill also prohibits the office from renewing, extending, negotiating or entering into any contract or other agreement with a 3rd-party entity for the administration of, or otherwise relating to, the tracking system for adult use cannabis and adult use cannabis products. The office is directed to, as expeditiously as possible, take all reasonable steps to cancel or terminate any such existing contracts or agreements with 3rd-party entities, subject to the terms, conditions and other limitations of those contracts or agreements. By June 30, 2026, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services is required to transfer to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Bureau of Veterans' Services, Maine Veterans' Homes Stabilization Fund, established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 37-B, section 613, all funds in its possession allocated or otherwise dedicated to the administration of, or otherwise relating to, the tracking system for adult use cannabis and adult use cannabis products. | Dead |
| LD372 | An Act to Protect Maine People from Inflation by Exempting Gold and Silver Coins and Bullion from the State Sales and Use Tax | This bill provides a sales and use tax exemption for sales of gold and silver coins and bullion. | Dead |
| LD999 | An Act to Include Employees of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission in the State's Group Health Plan and to Clarify Future Eligibility for the State's Group Health Plan | An Act to Include Employees of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission in the State's Group Health Plan and to Clarify Future Eligibility for the State's Group Health Plan | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| LD1900 | An Act to Bring Parity to the State's Recognition of the Wabanaki Nations' Authority to Provide Electric Power Districts and Child Support Enforcement | An Act to Bring Parity to the State's Recognition of the Wabanaki Nations' Authority to Provide Electric Power Districts and Child Support Enforcement | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| LD339 | Resolve, to Provide Funds to the Maine Indian Education School District to Develop a Wabanaki-centered Curriculum | This resolve provides $100,000 for each year in the 2026-2027 biennium to the Maine Indian Education school district to develop and implement a Wabanaki-centered curriculum for Native American high school students. It requires the Maine Indian Education school district to administer a pilot program in coordination with state-approved high schools throughout the State. The funds will be used for curriculum development, staff, transportation and support services. The resolve also directs the Department of Education to coordinate with the Maine Indian Education school district to make available and disseminate, as appropriate, any Wabanaki-centered curriculum for Native American high school students to state-approved schools throughout the State. It requires the department and the superintendent to report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs on the dissemination of the curriculum and use of funds. | Dead |
| LD342 | An Act to Include Nuclear Power in the State's Renewable Portfolio Standard | This bill includes a source of electrical generation relying on a nuclear power plant constructed after January 1, 2025 in the definition of a renewable capacity resource and a renewable resource. Renewable capacity resources are Class I resources for the purposes of the portfolio supply source requirements applicable to competitive electricity providers in the State. | Dead |
| LD16 | An Act to Establish Separate Prosecutorial Districts in Downeast Maine | This bill reduces Prosecutorial District Number 7 to Hancock County and creates Prosecutorial District Number 9 for Washington County. | Dead |
| SP0785 | JOINT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING MAY 18, 2025 AS ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER DAY AGAINST BULLYING AND HATE | JOINT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING MAY 18, 2025 AS ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER DAY AGAINST BULLYING AND HATE | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| LD1172 | An Act to Enact the Passamaquoddy Fisheries and Workforce Development Act | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to enact the Passamaquoddy Fisheries and Workforce Development Act. | Dead |
| LD1808 | An Act to Enact the Maine Climate Superfund Act | This bill establishes the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program within the Department of Environmental Protection. Under the program, an entity or a successor in interest to an entity that was engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2024 is assessed a cost recovery demand for the entity's share of fossil fuel extraction or refinement contributing to greenhouse gas-related costs in the State. An entity is assessed a cost recovery demand only if the department determines that the entity's products were responsible for more than one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Cost recovery payments received by the department are deposited into the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program Fund to provide funding for climate change adaptation projects in the State, which the department is directed to prioritize through the adoption of a resilience implementation strategy. | Dead |
| LD320 | An Act to Repeal Certain Motor Vehicle Inspection Requirements | This bill repeals statutory provisions requiring inspections for certain motor vehicles in the State. It repeals statutory provisions requiring inspections for motor vehicles registered in the State, except that the provisions regarding inspection of commercial motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 29-A, section 1753; inspection of fire trucks under Title 29-A, section 1755; and inspection by dealers and transporters under Title 29-A, section 1754 are not repealed. | Dead |
| LD735 | An Act to Protect Sand Dunes on Sears Island and to Establish Criteria for Legislation Regarding Land Development | This bill repeals the provisions in law that authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to consider and potentially grant a permit under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 480-D for construction of an offshore wind terminal on Sears Island in the Town of Searsport to be located on or that will otherwise impact a coastal sand dune system on the island. The bill also repeals the provisions in law that direct the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, to take all reasonable steps to ensure the conservation and protection of a parcel of land in the northwest portion of Sears Island that is approximately 10 acres in size and that includes a coastal sand dune system that is approximately 1 1/2 acres in size. The bill also requires that any legislation proposing to enact a measure regarding the development of land that is in conflict with United States Environmental Protection Agency regulations may be sponsored only by a member of the House of Representatives or Senate who represents the affected district and may be enacted only with a 2/3 vote of the Legislature. The bill also prohibits the State from authorizing any land development on Sears Island without first establishing an indigenous lands protection committee and obtaining from that committee a certification that any area to be developed does not contain a site sacred to indigenous people in Maine. | Dead |
| LD303 | An Act to Repeal the Law Prohibiting Unauthorized Paramilitary Training | This bill repeals the law prohibiting unauthorized paramilitary training. | Dead |
| LD226 | An Act to Protect the Cultural Resources and Historical Heritage of Sears Island in Searsport by Extending Conservation Easement Protections | This bill directs the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, to extend the current conservation easement to cover all lands on Sears Island that are not managed under a permanent buffer conservation easement between the State and the trust. | Dead |
| Committee | Position | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detail | Maine Joint Judiciary Committee | 4 |
| State | District | Chamber | Party | Status | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ME | Passamaquoddy Tribe | House | Non-designated | In Office | 10/01/2022 |