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.”
Officials say privatizing prisons not an option in Pennsylvania
Topics on this page Pennsylvania…
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With privatization hopes bleak, LCB works to increase revenue
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Read More: With privatization hopes bleak, LCB works to increase revenueState Budget
Pennsylvania Welfare Spending
The FY 2011-12 total operating budget of $63.4 billion, which included $27.1 billion in General Fund spending, represented the first year-to-year reduction in state spending in at least 40 years.
Fact Sheet
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DRBC Moratorium Puts Residents’ Property Rights in Limbo
Wayne County land owners in favor of natural gas drilling are fed up with the Delaware River Basin Commission’s baseless moratorium on fracking. The commission has suspended natural…
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Read More: DRBC Moratorium Puts Residents’ Property Rights in LimboRegulation
State Liquor Stores’ Soviet-style Socialism Fails
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board once again proves it does not know how to manage a business, and its Soviet-style socialist control fails to satisfy customers. More than a month…
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Read More: State Liquor Stores’ Soviet-style Socialism FailsEducation
Busting the Myth That State Subsidies Prevent College Tuition Rising
Universities consistently blame state budget cuts for rising tuition, but in reality, tuition has risen regardless of state subsidies. Here’s…
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Report Finds Pennsylvania Welfare System Unsustainable, Hurting Poor
The Commonwealth Foundation released today an alarming new report on Pennsylvania public welfare that finds widespread abuse of tax dollars, with spending growing faster than the economy and exceeding education…
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Ending the Cycle: Reforming Welfare in Pennsylvania
Government welfare, with its goal to provide a helping hand to those in need, has instead become a vast series of programs that fall far short of the good intentions…
Report
Read More: Ending the Cycle: Reforming Welfare in PennsylvaniaEducation
Attacking Cyber School Funding
The House Education Committee held an informational hearing today with administrators from several of Pennsylvania’s cyber schools. The school officials mainly addressed myths about cyber school funding and performance,…
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Which County will be Duped into Imposing Marcellus Tax?
On Monday, Gov. Tom Corbett signed House Bill 1950, the Marcellus Shale impact tax, into law. The funding formula funnels the first $23 million in revenue to statewide programs. Local…
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Read More: Which County will be Duped into Imposing Marcellus Tax?Public Union Democracy
Will the Union Party Win Again?
On Tuesday, everyone in the Capitol anticipated a final vote in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on a bill to increase the “prevailing wage” threshold for public construction…
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Who Would Oppose Reforming a Costly, Unnecessary Law?
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives may vote today on a bill to reform the 1961 prevailing wage mandate. The prevailing wage requires government to pay higher wages and benefits for…
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Read More: Who Would Oppose Reforming a Costly, Unnecessary Law?Public Union Democracy
Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Law
Pennsylvania's Prevailing Wage Law was enacted in 1961 to protect construction workers from out-of-state competition, mandating that contractors pay the wages that "prevail" in each region on all government construction…
Fact Sheet
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CF Joins More than 400 State Lawmakers in Brief on Health Care Law
The Commonwealth Foundation joined 17 other organizations and 333 state legislators from across the country in an amicus curiae brief challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act passed…
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Read More: CF Joins More than 400 State Lawmakers in Brief on Health Care LawCriminal Justice Reform
Pennsylvania Corrections Spending
The FY 2011-12 total operating budget of $63.4 billion, which included $27.1 billion in General Fund spending, represented the first year-to-year reduction in state spending in at least 40 years.
Fact Sheet
Read More: Pennsylvania Corrections SpendingPublic Union Democracy
House Moves Unemployment Compensation Reform
More Unemployment Compensation reform is moving through the Pennsylvania House. Yesterday, HB 1754 sponsored by Rep. Ron Miller, and HB 1852 sponsored by Rep. Seth Grove, cleared the…
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Reforming State Borrowing for Corporate Welfare
Since 1986, state lawmakers have authorized more than $4 billion in borrowing for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (or RACP). This is effectively debt for corporate welfare and…
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Read More: Reforming State Borrowing for Corporate WelfareCriminal Justice Reform
Government Union Jeopardizes Criminal Justice Reform
As Pennsylvania takes a hard look at reforming its criminal justice system, prepare for the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association’s fear-mongering campaign against reducing prison populations. The officers’ union opposition…
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Read More: Government Union Jeopardizes Criminal Justice ReformEducation
School Choice Gives Students Hope
Chester-Upland School District in the Philadelphia area is in deep financial trouble, and it made news recently for suing the state for emergency funding to keep going. In a…
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It’s Not About Tuition, It’s About Mo’ Money
Over at PA Independent, Stacy Brown has an important story on the ongoing fight over Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal. There, Duquesne University professor Antony Davies, a member of CF’s…
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Read More: It’s Not About Tuition, It’s About Mo’ Money