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.” 

Regulation

Wine, Dine, and Bribe

  • March 18, 2014

“Today’s featured wine has notes of bureacracy, boondoggles, and waste, with a lingering aftertaste of corruption. May I interest you in this PLCB blend?” Unlike a fine wine, the PLCB…

Media

Read More: Wine, Dine, and Bribe

Regulation

PLCB Monopoly Breeds Corruption and Cronyism

  • March 17, 2014

For Immediate Release Commonwealth Foundation Contact: 717-671-1901 PLCB Officials Used Public Positions for Personal Gain State monopoly has culture of corruption and cronyism on the…

Press Release

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Education

Time for Paycheck Protection in Pa

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 17, 2014

The government liquor monopoly, the pension time bomb, and Philadelphia’s public school crisis—what do they have in common? Each of these public policy disasters was supported by government unions. What’s…

Commentary

Read More: Time for Paycheck Protection in Pa

Public Union Democracy

Senator Uses Public Money for Politics — So What?

  • March 14, 2014

All this hyperventilating over allegations that State Senator LeAnna Washington’s summer birthday bash included some surreptitious use of taxpayer resources for campaign fundraising is really a…

Media

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Public Union Democracy

Gov. Union Politics Harm Employees and Taxpayers

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 14, 2014

Government unions aren’t about fighting for public employees and workers any more — they’ve become political operations with agendas that harm both their members and taxpayers. Americans, and even…

Commentary

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Regulation

A Risk Too Great: Bonds Alone Could Worsen Pension Crisis

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 14, 2014

Is your family ready to bend their budget to pay for Pennsylvania’s pension crisis? State pension costs are set to drive up the average family’s taxes by nearly $900 annually,…

Media

Read More: A Risk Too Great: Bonds Alone Could Worsen Pension Crisis

Education

Charter School Reform

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 14, 2014

Good morning, my name is Nathan Benefield; I am the vice president of policy analysis for the Commonwealth Foundation. I wish to thank Auditor General DePasquale for the opportunity to…

Testimony

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Doing Teacher Evaluations and Seniority Right

  • March 12, 2014

George Parker is a veteran math teacher and former head of the teachers union in Washington, DC. As union president, he spearheaded with then-Chancellor Michelle Rhee reforms removing seniority…

Media

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Public Union Democracy

Super PAC will Super Size Union Dues in Politics

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 12, 2014

You may have read articles about a federal judge allowing a “Super PAC” to operate in Pennsylvania to attack Republicans. Effectively, Super PACs can collect and spend unlimited amounts…

Media

Read More: Super PAC will Super Size Union Dues in Politics