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.”
Education
Massive Strategic Victory for Kids
I've long been convinced that Thomas Jefferson was exactly right when he wrote, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never…
Commentary
Read More: Massive Strategic Victory for KidsRegulation
Liquor Privatization: Just the Facts
In a recent Delaware County Times webcast on Pennsylvania liquor store privatization, on which I was a panelist, there was a great deal of information thrown into the mix which may have…
Memo
Read More: Liquor Privatization: Just the FactsTaxes & Economy
Welfare: Don’t Repudiate Resounding Results, Replicate Reform
A new move from the Obama administration would waive work requirements under TANF (cash assistance). Requiring recipients to work was a central provision of the highly successful 1996 welfare…
Media
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State AG, grand jury looking at employment and politics at Turnpike Commission
Topics on this page Pennsylvania Turnpike…
Media Hit
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‘Break it, replace it’ policy costly for LCB
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Read More: ‘Break it, replace it’ policy costly for LCBHealth Care
ACA Encourages Young & Healthy to Stay Uninsured
An AP article claims the Affordable Care Act will lower the cost of insurance for young adults through a host of government interventions such as new mandates, Medicaid…
Media
Read More: ACA Encourages Young & Healthy to Stay UninsuredPublic Union Democracy
Union Bosses Fight to Stay Relevant
Labor unions are so livid that the Democratic Party is having its national convention in North Carolina—a right to work state, and the country’s least unionized—that they are staging…
Media
Read More: Union Bosses Fight to Stay RelevantEducation
What School Choice Advocates are Saying about Pennsylvania’s “Massive School Choice Victory”
The fiscal year 2012-13 state budget increases the Educational Improvement Tax Credit by $25 million to $100 million and creates a new $50 million tax credit for Opportunity Scholarships—effectively doubling…
Media
Read More: What School Choice Advocates are Saying about Pennsylvania’s “Massive School Choice Victory”Education
School Choice Expansion in Pennsylvania
The fiscal year 2012-13 state budget increases the Educational Improvement Tax Credit by $25 million to $100 million and creates a new $50 million tax credit for Opportunity Scholarships—effectively doubling…
Memo
Read More: School Choice Expansion in PennsylvaniaEducation
Auditor Errs On Charter School Funding
Auditor General Jack Wagner recently release a report criticizing charter school funding. Unfortunately, the report is riddled with errors. One key flaw is the argument that cyber schools get…
Media
Read More: Auditor Errs On Charter School FundingPublic Union Democracy
Unions Spent $4 Billion Nationally on Politics Since 2005
Labor unions spend four times more than originally estimated on politics and lobbying, reports the Wall Street Journal, making them a formidable behemoth in state and national elections. In…
Media
Read More: Unions Spent $4 Billion Nationally on Politics Since 2005Health Care
States Take a Stand Against Medicaid Expansion
The Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would cost Pennsylvania an additional $2 billion through 2019, should the commonwealth participate. That represents merely the state share, as taxes…
Media
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Pa. completes Olympian effort to adopt budget
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Gov. Corbett earns a gold medal on budget
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Read More: Gov. Corbett earns a gold medal on budgetHealth Care
What if Congress Passed the “TV Mandate”?
A friend of mine recently purchased a new flat screen TV, getting a no-interest loan for three years to finance it. He remarked in amazement at this wonder, noting he…
Media
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An accomplished but flawed Pennsylvania budget
Topics on this page Pennsylvania…
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Read More: An accomplished but flawed Pennsylvania budgetTaxes & Economy
EPA Wants to Scare Jobs Out of Pennsylvania
The Environmental Protection Agency’s derailing of American’s economy is frightening enough to scare even the Ghostbusters (and they ain’t afraid of no ghost). Pennsylvania will be the 7th hardest hit…
Media
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Gov. Tom Corbett signs Pennsylvania prison reform into law
Topics on this page PennsylvaniaTom Corbett…
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