Good evening everyone,

It’s Thursday, Jan, 29 and welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report. 

Fallout continues after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA and American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) member, during an immigration in Minneapolis on Saturday. 

All seven of Pennsylvania’s democratic members in the US House have signed onto articles of impeachment targeting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, which were introduced by US House Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) earlier this month. 

Democrats were able to successfully force votes on releasing the Epstein Files, extending ACA tax credits, and restoring bargaining rights for federal workers even though they’re in the minority and it will be interesting to see if they will force a vote on Noem’s future. 

(Mark Pynes / AP Photo)

Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House returned to session following an extended holiday break and State Rep. Seth Grove caught everyone off guard with a surprise resignation at the end of the day on Wednesday. 

Earlier this month, we revealed Grove’s potential conflicts of interest as he tried serving as the minority chair of the House Labor and Industry Committees while serving as the President and CEO of an industry group that represents over 200 construction companies. 

If Grove remained in office to finish out his term, he would have been sitting on a committee responsible for regulating and overseeing the industry he was working for. 

“The time, however, has come to pass the torch to the next generation. I am confident the 196th District’s future is bright, and I wish whoever has the privilege of serving its people the very best as they continue the important work of representing this great community,” Grove said in a statement announcing his resignation. 

(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Vigils for Alex Pretti and Renee Good are beginning to pop up around Pennsylvania, with two of the state’s largest health care unions taking the lead. 

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is hosting a candlelight vigil at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday by the Fred Rogers Memorial in Pittsburgh, while, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) is hosting a vigil outside of Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. 

For those living in southcentral Pennsylvania, Indivisible Lancaster is hosting their vigil at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Penn Square in Lancaster on Friday. 

“The killing of Alex Pretti really hit home for me as a fellow nurse, and also because my family and I lived for years in Minneapolis near where he was shot,” Jean Stone, a labor and delivery nurse at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, said in a statement.

“Alex devoted his life to taking care of our nation’s military veterans, and in his final moments was out there sticking up for our rights and trying to protect people.”

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

We are less than one week away from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s fourth budget address, which will be in the Pennsylvania Capitol, on Tuesday. 

Education advocates are pushing Shapiro to continue closing the $3.8 billion education funding gap between poorer and wealthier school districts, and affordable housing is expected to get a big nod during his address. 

Feel free to drop me a line at seankitchen@couriernewsroom.com to tell me one thing you’d like to see Shapiro propose in this year’s budget.