Video & Transcript : 'burn pits' :

Page 29 of 231
CA
Transcript Highlights:
  • States, and community colleges that were brought on through colonization—dividing, conquering, and pitting
  • I am a tribal member enrolled with the Ajumawi Band of the Pit River Tribe.
Summary: The joint hearing of the Select Committee on Native American Affairs and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee focused on the University of California’s compliance with NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA and the return of Native American human remains and cultural items. Senators and Assembly Members opened by emphasizing the sacredness of repatriation, the ongoing trauma caused by delayed returns, and the need for stronger systemwide accountability. The State Auditor presented the third audit of UC’s repatriation efforts, concluding that UC still lacked urgency, clear goals, and performance metrics, and that campuses continued to hold thousands of remains and hundreds of thousands of cultural items. The auditor said some campuses had discovered previously undocumented collections, that budgets were not always fully used for repatriation work, and that at current rates some campuses could take decades to finish, with Berkeley projected to need far longer than other campuses. The auditor recommended stronger UCOP oversight, clearer timelines, proactive searches, and possible legislative action to tie funding to measurable progress. UC officials responded that the system had made substantial recent progress and was now moving faster under a new systemwide approach. UC Provost Catherine Newman apologized for the university’s past actions, said UC had repatriated more than 2,800 ancestors and nearly 80,000 funerary belongings in the past year, and announced a goal of completing repatriation of remaining human remains by the end of 2028. She said UC would complete high-risk campus reviews by June 2026, update campus plans with clearer timelines by December, provide quarterly reports, add more than $8.8 million in new resources, support tribal consultation costs, and explore 20 potential reburial sites on UC land. UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said Berkeley had accelerated consultations and repatriations, had a dedicated NAGPRA team, and was also targeting 2028 for human remains. UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara coordinators described new staff, database improvements, campus surveys, and additional consultations, while Santa Barbara said outstanding loan collections were scheduled to be returned in the fall. Committee members pressed UC on why progress had been so slow, whether the 2028 goal applied to all remains and items or only human remains, why public reporting did not always match the audit’s broader counts of potential cultural items, and what expertise was still lacking. UC said the legal and technical work requires archival, osteological, geographic, and other specialized skills, but tribal leaders stressed that tribes themselves are the true experts and that consultation must be led with them, not around them. Tribal witnesses from Tachi Yokut, Chumash, Redding Rancheria, Amah Mutsun, and Tule River described the issue as a matter of dignity, healing, and transparency, criticized the pace of repatriation, and urged that all associated cultural items be returned with the remains so ancestors can rest. No formal votes were taken in the transcript, but the hearing concluded with commitments to continued oversight, updated reporting, and further discussion of statutory or policy changes to make repatriation a lasting UC priority.
WY

Wyoming 2026 Regular Session

Joint Appropriations Committee, January 14, 2026

Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:
  • </c><02:03:40.080><c> Wyoming</c> Taiwan and watched them burn Wyoming Taiwan and watched them burn Wyoming
  • They stepped up, spent the money, and we didn't pit one against another.
  • They stepped up, spent the money, and we didn't pit one against another.
  • They stepped up, spent the money, and we didn't pit one against another.
  • </c> and we didn't pit one against another. and we didn't pit one against another.
AL

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

Alabama Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee Feb 4th, 2026

Finance and Taxation General Fund

Transcript Highlights:
  • 00:43:16.880><c> something</c><00:43:17.200><c> on,</c><00:43:18.160><c> but</c><00:43:18.560><c> pitting
  • </c> with us adding something on, but pitting with us adding something on, but pitting people<00:43:20.079
Bills: SB57 , SB155 , HB39 , HB77 , HB104 , SB57 , SB155 , HB39 , HB77 , HB104
NM

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

IC - Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Sep 2nd, 2025

Radioactive & Hazardous Materials Committee

Transcript Highlights:
  • You can see there's a photo here of a series of unlined waste pits. near Hobbs, where oil and gas waste
  • New Mexico found hundreds of cases of groundwater contamination linked to the use of these unlined pits
  • and enacted the pit rule, as you may know. to try to prevent some of those practices.
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Energy Finance and Policy Committee 3/4/25

Energy Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • The RDA ensures that we don't have to pit other needs of Minnesotans, like education and infrastructure
  • The RDA ensures that we don't have to pit other needs of Minnesotans, like education and infrastructure
  • The RDA ensures that we don't have to pit other needs of Minnesotans, like education and infrastructure
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Committee on Education Policy - 03/03/25

Education Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • closed landfill or Brownfield<00:04:20.359><c> according</c><00:04:20.720><c> to</c><00:04:21.000><c> pits
  • </c><00:04:21.680><c> people</c> Brownfield according to pits people Brownfield according to pits people
DE

Delaware 2025-2026 Regular Session

Joint Capital Improvement Committee Meeting Jun 23rd, 2026

Capital Improvement

Transcript Highlights:
  • Section 84 provides funds for the debris pit remediation and says New Castle County must provide matching
Summary: The committee met for a fiscal year 2027 capital budget writing session with all 12 members present. It first reviewed and approved the DNREC Resource Conservation and Development drainage project list, which would add projects across New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties and bring the total eligible projects to 1,561. Members offered personal remarks thanking retiring conservation district staff, especially Kevin Donnelly, for years of work on drainage and water issues. The committee then reviewed DelDOT Rule 12 changes, including annual date updates and a reduction in the inflation markup applied to older estimates, and approved the rule as amended. The committee next adopted DelDOT Appendix A and the FY27 paving and rehabilitation list, including the subdivision street management fund and various road resurfacing projects. DelDOT explained that paving projects are for state-of-good-repair work and that major changes from corridor studies would be handled separately. The committee also approved DelDOT epilogue changes, including updates to authorization amounts, a $25 million increase for toll infrastructure work, changes to subdivision street paving language, and an increase in the subdivision street paving management fund to $30 million. Several sections were placed on hold for later updates. The committee then moved through boilerplate epilogue sections in the bond bill, approving a wide range of provisions affecting conservation districts, housing, economic development, corrections, DNREC, public safety, transportation, agriculture, fire prevention, education, and other agencies. Many sections were adopted in groups, while some were held for later revisions or deleted as no longer needed. The session included updates to school capital rules, transportation restrictions and reporting requirements, DNREC conservation and land-use provisions, and funding and administrative authorities across multiple agencies. The committee broke for lunch after approving the education-related sections through 147, with additional sections still pending.
WA

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Housing Feb 2nd, 2026 at 01:30 pm

Housing

Transcript Highlights:
  • I worry about that because, you know, what if it's somebody's pit bull or, you know, I just think we
Bills: HB2266 , HB2489
Committee: House Housing
NM

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

Senate Chamber Nov 10th, 2025

New Mexico Senate Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • In the operating reserve, PIT and CIT did not come in to what we projected, and we are giving them authority
NM

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

IC - Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Oct 10th, 2025

Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force

Transcript Highlights:
  • Some PITs allow you to pre-pay and eliminate that tax liability on a Pay condo or HOA dues, which are
TX
Transcript Highlights:
  • If we don't end up with a tar pit with that, that's terrific.
Bills: SB1538 , SB2883 , HB1734 , HB2340 , HB2350 , HB3376
ND
Transcript Highlights:
  • Anna's a pit bull when it comes to child abuse. She was a prosecutor. She put people away.
Summary: The Senate conference committee on Senate Bill 2330 met to resolve differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill, which concerns human trafficking and exploitation prevention and awareness education in schools. House members explained their amendments, including adding non-public schools, narrowing some statutory language, removing the appropriation section because funding had been moved into the Attorney General’s budget, and changing the bill’s structure to reduce what they viewed as an overly broad mandate. Senators and House members then debated whether the education should be required for all grades or limited to specific grades, and whether it should be delivered every year or every other year. Testimony from Amy Boyd-Bomey of YouthWorks and Stacey Schaefer of the 31A Project supported focusing the program on grades 6 and 10, with later discussion adding grade 12. They said sixth grade is a key entry point into junior high and social media exposure, tenth grade is important because of dropout risk, and twelfth grade would be the last opportunity to reach students before adulthood. They also said repeating the same material every year could dilute the message, that the curriculum should be thoughtful and trauma-informed, and that “best practices” may be preferable to the bill’s “evidence-based” language because of cost and feasibility. They emphasized that presenters must be prepared for disclosures from students after the training. Committee members also discussed logistics and funding. The witnesses said the Attorney General’s budget line for the program would fund third-party organizations through a grant process, with reporting requirements, and that the proposed amount was based on their cost estimates. Members raised concerns about whether the funding would cover all schools and grades, especially if non-public schools were included. Several members argued against mandating the program in non-public schools at this time, citing uncertainty about related legislation and the need to maximize available funds, while others said private school students also face trafficking risks and should not be excluded. The committee did not take final action on the bill; instead, members agreed to continue working on amendments, including grade levels, annual versus biennial implementation, the “may include” language, the “evidence-based” standard, and the non-public school issue, and to reconvene at a later meeting.
US
Transcript Highlights:
  • We're gonna be equal opportunity pit bulls here.
FL

Florida 2025 Regular Session

April 2, 2025 - 01:30 PM

Transcript Highlights:
  • And that, if passed, this bill leaves the public somehow less safe than if the beer took a pit stop at
Summary: The State Administration Budget Subcommittee met with a quorum and took up one bill, House Bill 499, which would allow malt beverage manufacturers producing less than 31,000 gallons annually to sell and deliver directly to vendors. The sponsor and several craft brewery owners and industry advocates testified in support, arguing the measure would help small breweries reach local restaurants, improve quality control, create jobs, and serve as a bridge into the three-tier system for businesses too small to attract distributors. Opponents, including the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association, argued the bill would undermine the three-tier system, weaken accountability and tax collection, and create risks for consumer protection and market fairness. During debate, several members said they supported the bill as a small-business measure while noting they remained protective of the three-tier system. Some members raised concerns about tax tracking and long-term distributor contracts, but others said the bill appeared limited enough to preserve the existing system while giving small breweries a chance to grow. The committee then voted on the bill and it passed, with one recorded no vote. After the bill vote, the subcommittee revisited prior questions about Department of Lottery Secretary Davis’s travel reimbursements. Members reviewed updated documents showing more than $50,000 in travel reimbursements from January 2021 through November 2024, including about $27,840 tied to Orlando destinations, and expressed concern that some reimbursements may have covered commuting between Tallahassee and Orlando. The chair said the information would be sent to Secretary Davis for an explanation, and the meeting adjourned after no further business.
TX

Texas 89th Regular

Appropriations Mar 31st, 2025

Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:
  • of the matching funds for the Water Development Board, the produced water reporting system, and the pit
Bills: SB1 , HB500 , SB 1
FL

Florida 2025 Regular Session

March 13, 2025 - 10:00 AM

Transcript Highlights:
  • As you know, we pit and chase a lot of people in the state of Florida.
Summary: The Judiciary Committee met and considered nine bills, with members hearing brief presentations, limited debate, and mostly unanimous support. Early measures included CS/HB 421, which expands peer support access for first responders to include support personnel, and HB 205, which creates a new offense for abandoning a restrained dog during a natural disaster (“Troopers’ Law”). Both bills drew support from law enforcement and animal welfare-related witnesses, and both were reported favorably; HB 205 was adopted with a technical amendment. The committee also approved CS/HB 157 on service of process, which clarifies that a prior statutory change applies to all causes of action, creates a safe harbor for compliance, tightens substituted service requirements, and allows individual registered agents to be served anywhere in the state. HB 693, which adds an aggravating factor for capital felonies committed where people are gathered for school, religious, or public government activities, drew both support and opposition; the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops opposed expanding the death penalty, while supporters argued juries should have more tools in capital cases. The bill was reported favorably after debate. Members then approved CS/HB 113, increasing penalties for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, after discussion about marked versus unmarked vehicles and an amendment that restored current penalties for two related offenses. Rep. Bracey Davis voted no, citing concerns about unmarked cars and public safety perceptions. The committee also passed HB 91 on misdemeanor probation, PCS/CS/HB 383 allowing certain officers and service members to purchase firearms without the three-day waiting period, and CS/HB 195 to let correctional education count toward professional licensure requirements for incarcerated people. Finally, CS/HB 479 was approved to allow judges to order restitution in hit-and-run property-damage cases. All bills were reported favorably, most by unanimous or near-unanimous votes.
TX

Texas 89th Regular

89th Legislative Session Mar 12th, 2025

Texas House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • We know, you know, this is a lie from the pit of hell and that everyone One of us is here because of
MN

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee 3/12/26

Commerce Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:
  • This conversation pits 150 years of legal precedent against basic democratic common sense.
  • This conversation pits 150 years of legal precedent against basic democratic common sense.
  • This conversation pits 150 years of legal precedent against basic democratic common sense.
  • This conversation pits 150 years of legal precedent against basic democratic common sense.
  • This conversation pits 150 years of legal precedent against basic democratic common sense.
Bills: HF4133 , HF3419
HI
Transcript Highlights:
  • grew up in Kainaliu, fishing at Hō‘okena every single day after school, and I saw how the baitfish pits
  • grew up in Kainaliu, fishing at Hō‘okena every single day after school, and I saw how the baitfish pits
  • how<00:51:42.880><c> The</c><00:51:43.000><c> Bait</c><00:51:43.240><c> fish</c><00:51:43.440><c> pits
  • </c><00:51:44.440><c> decimated</c><00:51:45.400><c> and</c> how The Bait fish pits decimated and how
  • The Bait fish pits decimated and eradicated<00:51:46.200><c> Neu</c><00:51:46.520><c> schools</c><00
Summary: The joint committees first heard SB 1146, which would appropriate funds to the University of Hawaiʻi to develop an action plan and pre-engineering concept plan for debris management and water quality control in the Ala Wai Watershed. Testimony was largely supportive from DLNR, a UH student, and a special improvement district representative, while one speaker suggested the work should be coordinated with existing efforts to avoid duplication. Committee discussion focused on the multi-jurisdictional nature of the watershed, existing debris-trap work that captures only about 20 to 30 percent of debris, the role of the university in capstone projects and recommendations, and the relationship to the existing Geni project and other community efforts. Members also asked about costs, tracking progress, and the difference between water-quality improvements and the larger debris problem. The committees then voted to pass SB 1146 with amendments, including blanking out the appropriation and deferring the effective date to July 31, 2050. The motion passed in both committees, with votes recorded in support and no opposition noted during the decision-making. The committees also heard SB 321, which would deem certain fee simple privately owned lands transferred to adjacent property owners or community associations if specified conditions are met. Testimony was in support from several individuals, but members raised concerns about the lack of input from counties and the state, and about how the bill might affect roads already used by the public or maintained by local governments. After discussion, the committees voted to advance SB 321 unamended to the next committees, with the measure adopted in both committees despite one recorded no vote in the Water and Land committee.