Good afternoon everyone,

It’s Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, and welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report. 

Today, we’re going to take a look at a new ad released by Affordable Pennsylvania and explore how Democrats in the Pennsylvania House and Senate offered strong support for Penn State faculty members ahead of their union election later this semester. 

Plus, Lancaster County officials reaffirmed their support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after residents delivered thousands of signatures demanding that they end their 287(g) agreements with the federal agency. 

(Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Affordable Pennsylvania launched a new ad targeting US Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s (R-Luzerne) record of dumping Medicaid-related stocks ahead of voting for President Donald Trump’s $1 trillion cut to the program. 

The new ad features a longtime nurse named Jennifer as she explains how Bresnahan’s vote to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires is putting rural hospitals across the commonwealth at risk. 

Since taking office last year, Bresnahan has been moonlighting as the top day trader in Congress—making over 600 trades even though he campaigned against congressional stock trading. 

“Congressman Bresnahan’s vote to gut Medicaid to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires was already a huge blow to his more than 200,000 constituents who rely on that coverage, but the fact that he sold his stock in Medicaid providers ahead of the vote means he not only prioritized billionaires over Pennsylvanians—he also put profit over them,” Jennifer P, said in a statement. 

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

Over 100 Democratic lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House and Senate signed on to a letter demanding that Penn State University remain neutral during the upcoming faculty union vote. 

Members from the Penn State Faculty Alliances held a press conference in the state capitol last December after filing for a union election with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. 

There are roughly 6,000 faculty members eligible to vote, and it is one of the largest public sector union elections in the history of the commonwealth. 

“We are urging Penn State’s administration to allow the faculty a free and fair process to form their union and to bargain collectively, without intimidation or threats,” State Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) said in a statement. 

“Faculty organizing and collective bargaining at Penn State will enable the university to join all other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth in providing a clear and transparent process for true shared governance.”

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

Lancaster County Republican officials dismissed concerns raised by local residents who delivered thousands of signatures demanding District Attorney Heather Adams and Sheriff Chris Leppler end their 287(g) agreements with ICE allowing local law enforcement to act as federal immigration agents.  

Dozens of residents crammed into the Lancaster County Prison Board meeting on Thursday to air their grievances about the county’s relationship with ICE and held a press conference following the meeting.