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.”
Panel Talks Corrections Reform in Pennsylvania
Topics on this page Pennsylvania…
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Broad coalition sets broad goals for prison reform
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Bipartisan group calls for PA prison reform to save money
Topics on this page Pennsylvania…
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Read More: Bipartisan group calls for PA prison reform to save moneyState Budget
State Budget vs Spending Limits
Last week, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed a budget representing $27.66 in General Fund spending. How does that stack up against inflation and population growth? If…
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Read More: State Budget vs Spending LimitsCriminal Justice Reform
Real Corrections Reform, Right Now
Albert Einstein is said to have remarked that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We the undersigned submit that unfortunately,…
Poll
Read More: Real Corrections Reform, Right NowRegulation
UnAPPetizing Waste Poured by PLCB…Again
Have you heard of the millionaire iPhone app? It’s called VIP Black and for $1,000 at the iTunes store you get a “premium lifestyle application” that guarantees “heightened…
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Read More: UnAPPetizing Waste Poured by PLCB…AgainState Budget
Chart of the Day: General Fund Spending and Revenue
Yesterday, the Pa. Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a budget (the full Senate is expected to vote on it today) that includes $27.65 billion in General Fund spending. Unfortunately, this…
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Read More: Chart of the Day: General Fund Spending and RevenueRegulation
EXPOSED: PLCB Wine Shrine Uncovered
Nothing to see here, folks, move along and remain quiet, we are busy protecting your palettes. That’s the dismissive reaction to taxpayers from Pennsylvania Liquor Control boss Joe Conti whose defense…
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Should States Be in the Liquor Business?
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Taxpayers fund LCB wine tasters, tasting room
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Read More: Taxpayers fund LCB wine tasters, tasting roomState Budget
CF Applauds Pa. Senate Budget Use of TPA Index
HARRISBURG, PA (05.08.12) – The Commonwealth Foundation applauded Pennsylvania Senate leadership today for using the Taxpayer Protection Act index – inflation plus population growth – to compose their fiscal year 2012-13…
Press Release
Read More: CF Applauds Pa. Senate Budget Use of TPA IndexState Budget
Why Pennsylvania Needs Spending Limits
In a Capitolwire story (subscription), Senate Appropriations Chair Jake Corman notes that the proposed version of the state budget the Senate will take up this week increases spending by…
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Read More: Why Pennsylvania Needs Spending LimitsCriminal Justice Reform
Correcting Corrections Correctly
Over the last 30 years, Pennsylvania’s incarceration rate has increased by 500 percent and corrections spending has skyrocketed 1,700 percent. The unprecedented prison population growth at unsustainable costs…
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Read More: Correcting Corrections CorrectlyState Budget
This is the Change You’ve Been Looking For
I had the opportunity to hear Scott Rasmussen speak last week. The theme of his speech was “change”—as in how policy change happens. The lesson he gave was that policy…
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Read More: This is the Change You’ve Been Looking ForGovernment Accountability
Liquor’s Lap of Luxury a Laughingstock
With grand style on your dime, the ponderous Princes of Pinot are noses and palms up choosing what wine and liquor you will and will not consume in the Keystone…
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Read More: Liquor’s Lap of Luxury a LaughingstockCriminal Justice Reform
HOPE for PA Corrections Reform
Launched in 2004, Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) is an innovative supervision strategy that provides swift, predictable sanctions on substance-abusing probationers. Research shows the program has reduced probationers’ positive…
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Read More: HOPE for PA Corrections ReformRegulation
Reform Bills Would Begin to Reduce Fiscal Fire
While the fiscal fire is raging across Pennsylvania, Rep. Eli Evankovich’s pension reform proposal begins to extinguish the flames that threaten to consume the commonwealth. We’ve been on record…
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Read More: Reform Bills Would Begin to Reduce Fiscal FireState Budget
Good April Tax Collections, but State is Spending More Than Revenue
Two new reports show that Pennsylvania’s fiscal crunch for the current year is not a dire as previously thought. Pa. Department of Revenue monthly reports on tax collections shows…
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Read More: Good April Tax Collections, but State is Spending More Than RevenueEducation
The Patriot Can Do Better Than This…
Our friends at The Patriot-News here in Harrisburg just posted an online poll that asks the following question: The state Senate has passed a school voucher bill that…
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Read More: The Patriot Can Do Better Than This…Welfare
Fighting Fraud is the Beginning of True Welfare Reform
Monday the Pennsylvania House continued its efforts to reform the state’s welfare system by passing HB 1948 out of committee. The legislation, sponsored by Tim Krieger, would establish the…
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