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.”
School choice equals better academic performance
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Hearing held on the privatization of state run liquor stores
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Yearbook of School Choice
The Alliance for School Choice has released its 2010-11 school choice yearbook. The report includes an overview of the growth of school choice programs around the country, a roundup…
Media
Read More: Yearbook of School ChoiceRegulation
Impacts of Liquor Privatization
Remarks by Nathan Benefield, Director of Policy Research, Commonwealth Foundation Good afternoon. I am Nathan Benefield, Director of Policy Research for the Commonwealth Foundation. We are a nonprofit, independent public…
Testimony
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Bankruptcy law for states could carry risk, bring opportunity
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Senate committee to weigh selling state liquor stores
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PA School District Uses Tax Dollars to Fight School Choice
The West Shore School District—my district, as it happens—has issued a “newsletter” with the clear, but unstated, goal of opposing Senate Bill…
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Hanger: Gas Fracking is Safe
John Hanger, who just departed with Gov. Ed Rendell as his Secretary of Environmental Protection, recently gave an exit interview to the anti-natural gas,…
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Long-term care insurance provides answer for seniors
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Podcast: Talking Transparency
In the latest The BOX podcast, Senior Fellow Jeff Coleman sits down with Representative Jim Christiana after the unanimous passage of his transparency legislation in the State House.
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The Insanity of Keeping Education Status Quo
In a guest opinion in today’s Lebanon Daily News, I make a case that keeping the status quo in education isn’t helping children, parents, taxpayers or teachers. Insanity? Judge…
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Read More: The Insanity of Keeping Education Status QuoTaxes & Economy
Green Energy Could Lead to More Blackouts
Recent controlled blackouts in Houston were reportedly caused by the inability of older fossil fuel power plants to operate in unusually cold temperatures. Now proponents of green energy are…
Media
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School Daze Ends with Choice
If Pennsylvania's public schools are broken, why don't we just fix them? Easier said than done, of course, but it's not from a lack of trying. For decades, taxpayers, parents…
Commentary
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It’s Time For School Choice In Pennsylvania
Topics on this page Pennsylvania…
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Five Reasons Corbett Should Stop Implementing Obamacare
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has indicated the state will continue to implement federal health care mandates, such as an an insurance exchange, at least for the time being. Here are…
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Chart of the Day: Education Spending Under SB 1
Below is a chart showing estimated spending in Pennsylvania under Senate Bill 1 (this assumes $50 million for opportunity scholarships, $75 million for…
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Pennsylvania School Choice Resources
Senate Bill 1, The Opportunity Scholarship Act sponsored by Sen. Jeff Piccola (R) and Sen. Tony Williams (D), would expand scholarships available to children in lower- and middle-income families through…
Fact Sheet
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