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.”
PA, Corbett continue fight against food stamp fraud
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Read More: PA, Corbett continue fight against food stamp fraudHealth Care
PPACA Will Put a Quarter of Pennsylvanians on Medicaid
There is no shortage of media coverage marking PPACA’s two year anniversary, but one statistic from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare did grab my attention: Instead of…
Media
Read More: PPACA Will Put a Quarter of Pennsylvanians on MedicaidTaxes & Economy
Energy Essential to Economic Growth
The World Economic Forum has a released an updated study on energy and economic growth in the US and guess what sector plays a huge role? That’s…
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Second Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
Topics on this page Affordable Care Act…
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Read More: Second Anniversary of the Affordable Care ActCriminal Justice Reform
Does School Choice Reduce Crime?
Yesterday, Charles noted a key Wall Street Journal piece on a Council of Foreign Relations report. That report concluded that educational failure is dangerous for our national security and…
Media
Read More: Does School Choice Reduce Crime?Education
No School Tax Referendums in Pennsylvania this Year
Remember the gnashing of teeth over “cuts” in state education subsidies (driven by the end of federal stimulus money)? The education establishment and partisan critics of Gov. Corbett insisted this…
Media
Read More: No School Tax Referendums in Pennsylvania this YearState Budget
Pennsylvania Government Debt
Today, Pennsylvanians owe $121 billion in state and local government debt. This equates to more than $9,400 for every person, and almost $38,000 for the average family of four in…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Pennsylvania Government DebtEducation
Violent, Failing Schools Will Lead to Unsafe, Ailing America
That’s the upshot of a story in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. It begins: Flaws in U.S. schools are increasingly causing a national-security risk, producing adults without the…
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Pa. must give school boards more autonomy to manage funds
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Read More: Pa. must give school boards more autonomy to manage fundsPublic Union Democracy
Public Schools Can Do More with Less – If We Let Them
As families across Pennsylvania try to figure out how to do more with less in this difficult economy, our local public schools must also do the same. But unlike fiscally…
Commentary
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Pensions’ Prevailing Point of NO Return
Today I found a message floating in the sea from you to me… We may not be in Kansas, but it shouldn’t take a smooth hit from 1977 to…
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Read More: Pensions’ Prevailing Point of NO ReturnRegulation
Is Corporate Welfare for Shell Cracker Good for PA?
Astute readers may remember that last month Pennsylvania earned the dubious distinction of the highest taxes for mature businesses and the second highest taxes for new businesses. So how…
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Pension Problems Pack The House Sunday in TT
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State pensions: The storm is approaching fast
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Who’s serving whom? A case for unions’ reform
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Read More: Who’s serving whom? A case for unions’ reformState Budget
Chart of the Day: Pennsylvania Operating Budget since 1970
Pennsylvania’s total state operating budget increased for 40 consecutive years before being reduced last year. The cumulative increase of 151 percent—adjusted for inflation—represents more than $12,000 per family of four…
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Read More: Chart of the Day: Pennsylvania Operating Budget since 1970Taxes & Economy
For Dimock, The Verdict Is In
In an update to the ongoing saga of federal overreach in Dimock, Pa., the Environmental Protection Agency has released results of drinking water testing at 11 area homes…
Media
Read More: For Dimock, The Verdict Is InEducation
It’s Good to be the King (of Charter Schools)
We blogged last month about HB 1973, a bill that would gut funding for cyber schools. Now it turns out there’s a bill—recently introduced to the House Education Committee—that…
Media
Read More: It’s Good to be the King (of Charter Schools)
Oh, SNAP! Welfare Cheats Sentenced
Weeks ago we published our take on welfare cheats and made the case for reinstating the asset test in order to rid the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance…
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