Erik Telford

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Erik Telford

Senior Vice President of Public Affairs

Erik Telford is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the Commonwealth Foundation.

Erik is a senior public affairs and communications executive with more than 15 years of diverse experience across public policy, advocacy, and public affairs institutions. Before joining the Commonwealth Foundation, Erik served as the senior vice president at Stand Together Communications, the Koch network’s marketing and communications capability. Erik has also served as the president of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a state-based watchdog journalism organization. And at Americans for Prosperity, he was the executive director of RightOnline (an initiative he founded) and the director of membership and online strategy. He is currently on the board of the American Commitment Foundation.

In 2013, Campaigns & Elections Magazine honored Erik as an “Advocacy Innovator” and in 2011 as a “Rising Star in American Politics.”  Politics Online named him one of the “Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.” 

State Budget

Wolf Truth Squad: Tax Hikes on Working Families

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 2, 2015

UPDATE: Gov. Wolf offered a new tax proposal on October 6, 2015. Here is a summary of that plan   As noted yesterday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives…

Media

Read More: Wolf Truth Squad: Tax Hikes on Working Families

Regulation

The Mirage of Green Jobs

  • Gordon Tomb
  • October 2, 2015

Promoters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon-emission regulation attempt to playdown the jobs it would kill with promises of “green jobs”. Yet these positions pay less and are largely…

Media

Read More: The Mirage of Green Jobs

State Budget

Analysis: Wolf’s Latest Tax Plan Costs Families $1,000

  • October 1, 2015

Analysis: Wolf’s Latest Tax Plan Costs Families $1,000—Vote Next Week 14,000 Jobs Not Created as a Result October 1, 2015, HARRISBURG, Pa.—Next week, the state House plans…

Press Release

Read More: Analysis: Wolf’s Latest Tax Plan Costs Families $1,000

Tax Hike Vote: Four Things to Know

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 1, 2015

UPDATE: Gov. Wolf offered a new tax proposal on October 6, 2015. Here is a summary of that plan   Legislative leaders have promised that on Wednesday October 7,…

Media

Read More: Tax Hike Vote: Four Things to Know

State Budget

Four Things to Know about Wolf’s September Tax Increase Proposal

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 1, 2015

On September 11, 2015, Gov. Tom Wolf presented legislative leaders with a second tax increase proposal—totaling$1.8 billion for the 2015-16 budget year, and a $3.2 billion net increase in 2016-17,…

Memo

Read More: Four Things to Know about Wolf’s September Tax Increase Proposal

Education

Wolf Veto = $11 Million Bill for Taxpayers

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 30, 2015

School districts have borrowed $346 million—and taxpayers will pay to pay up to $11 million in interest payments—as a result of Gov. Wolf’s budget vetoes, according to a report…

Media

Read More: Wolf Veto = $11 Million Bill for Taxpayers

Regulation

Analysis of Governor Wolf’s Budget Compromise

  • September 30, 2015

On September 16, 28 days after receiving a budget compromise proposal from legislative Republicans, Gov. Wolf rejected that offer and issued his own plan—to hire a private contractor to manage the government…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Analysis of Governor Wolf’s Budget Compromise

State Budget

Fresh Start, or Stale Policies of Decades Past?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 30, 2015

At the beginning of 2015, we heard a lot about a “fresh start” for Pennsylvania. But nine months later, it's difficult to identify anything fresh about Gov. Wolf's tax, borrow…

Media

Read More: Fresh Start, or Stale Policies of Decades Past?

State Budget

Wolf Blocks Education Funding, Issues 6th, 7th & 8th Vetoes

  • September 29, 2015

Wolf Blocks Education Funding, Issues 6th, 7th & 8th Vetoes Students, Disabled, & Struggling Held Hostage by Governor’s Tax-Hike Fixation September 29, 2015, HARRISBURG, Pa.—“The answer’s no. Now,…

Press Release

Read More: Wolf Blocks Education Funding, Issues 6th, 7th & 8th Vetoes

State Budget

Who Will Vote to Raise Your Taxes?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 29, 2015

Republican leadership in the General Assembly has announced they will allow a floor vote on a budget proposal that has the massive tax increases Gov. Wolf and government union leaders desire—if Democrats…

Media

Read More: Who Will Vote to Raise Your Taxes?

Government Accountability

Secret Contract Leaves Taxpayers in the Dark

  • September 29, 2015

In a special Friday night voting session, board members in Monessen School District unanimously approved a new teachers’ contract, which runs through 2018. The terms of the contract, including…

Media

Read More: Secret Contract Leaves Taxpayers in the Dark

Regulation

Government that Works?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 29, 2015

Last week, Governor Wolf revved up his Jeep and resumed his “Government that Works” tour in Lancaster. In an ironic twist, Wolf also promised to veto a temporary funding bill…

Commentary

Read More: Government that Works?

Regulation

Losers and Phony-Baloneys

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 23, 2015

Last week, Gov. Wolf unveiled new, bad policy ideas—to slightly adjust a misguided pension proposal, and to propose a private manager to a government run liquor monopoly.  But just as…

Media

Read More: Losers and Phony-Baloneys

Public Union Democracy

Bringing Democracy to Pennsylvania Labor Unions

  • Priya Brannick
  • September 22, 2015

Government unions play a large role in influencing public spending and policies at the state and local level, but they are surprisingly undemocratic within their own organizations. The practice of…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Bringing Democracy to Pennsylvania Labor Unions

State Budget

Audio: A Path of Compromise

  • Jonathan Reginella
  • September 21, 2015

Refusing to abandon his demands for the highest tax increase in state history, Gov. Wolf continues to fuel a budget impasse that has left human-services agencies and schools without…

Media

Read More: Audio: A Path of Compromise

Public Union Democracy

One woman’s quest to free teachers

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 18, 2015

Rebecca Friedrichs never understood her union. As a new teacher, Friedrichs noticed a teacher in the classroom next to hers was abusive towards her students. When Friedrichs tried to…

Media

Read More: One woman’s quest to free teachers

Education

Audio: Protecting Teachers’ Rights and Paychecks

  • Jonathan Reginella
  • September 18, 2015

Teacher unions are taking money from teachers to fund political causes they do not support. Through Free to Teach, teachers like James Williams and Linda Misja are speaking…

Media

Read More: Audio: Protecting Teachers’ Rights and Paychecks

Regulation

New Wolf Offer, Same Bad Policy

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 17, 2015

Yesterday, 28 days after receiving a budget compromise proposal from legislative Republicans, Gov. Wolf rejected that offer and issued his own plan—hiring a private contractor to manage the government liquor…

Media

Read More: New Wolf Offer, Same Bad Policy

Regulation

Gov. Wolf Offers Status Quo Packaged as ‘Reform’

  • September 17, 2015

Contact: Gina Diorio, 862-703-6670, gld@comfdnprod.wpengine.com Gov. Wolf Offers Status Quo Packaged as ‘Reform’ Liquor and Pension Proposals Fall Short of Much-Needed Change Good morning, Yesterday, Governor Tom…

Press Release

Read More: Gov. Wolf Offers Status Quo Packaged as ‘Reform’