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.”
Government Accountability
PA Lawmakers Use Per Diems to Buy Houses
I have often remarked that the exorbitant costs of Pennsylvania legislators’ per diems (see Tribune Review and ABC 27 stories) – that they receive to pay for food…
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Read More: PA Lawmakers Use Per Diems to Buy HousesGovernment Accountability
Lower Legislative Pay = Better Government
A new study of state legislative pay and party competition in the American Political Science Review, finds that, in addition to greater party competition, modest pay for legislators leads…
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Read More: Lower Legislative Pay = Better GovernmentTaxes & Economy
Did the Stimulus Raise Unemployment?
Alan Reynolds takes a nuanced approach to where stimulus funding went, and why it didn’t “create jobs” or increase GDP, and probably increased unemployment: [T]he GDP report clearly…
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Read More: Did the Stimulus Raise Unemployment?Regulation
How Rendell’s Cigar Tax Will Hurt Pennsylvania Businesses
For the second year in a row, Gov. Rendell has proposed a tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco, assuming this will have no impact on jobs or the economy. (As…
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Read More: How Rendell’s Cigar Tax Will Hurt Pennsylvania BusinessesRegulation
Pension Obligation Bonds: Worst Idea Ever
Rick Dreyfuss has a new article for the Mackinac Center in Michigan, where lawmakers are floating the idea of Pension Obligation Bonds to help fill their pension gap. Of…
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Read More: Pension Obligation Bonds: Worst Idea EverState Budget
Will the PA “Cost Cutting Commission” Cut Costs?
The Pennsylvania Senate’s new Cost Study Commission met for the first time on Friday, discussing the cost of the state fleet – which currently maintains 16,000 vehicles, half of…
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Read More: Will the PA “Cost Cutting Commission” Cut Costs?
Consumers encouraged to push for beer reform
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Read More: Consumers encouraged to push for beer reform
Global Warming on the Hot Seat
Topics on this page Climate change…
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Read More: Global Warming on the Hot SeatEducation
Pennsylvania School District Sued for Spying on Children
In a story that sounds like a George Orwell novel, the Lower Merion School District is being sued for using laptops to spy on children. The school district gave…
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Read More: Pennsylvania School District Sued for Spying on ChildrenCriminal Justice Reform
New PA Task Force on Prison Spending
Following testimony that inmates might riot if the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections didn’t a funding increase, the state House Appropriations Committee decided to create a task force to…
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Read More: New PA Task Force on Prison SpendingTaxes & Economy
When Alternative Energy Subsidies End . . .
Jim Panyard from the PA Independent reports on Rep. Scavello’s plan to secure $26 to $54 million in stimulus funding for residents who own Thermal Storage Unit heating systems.
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Read More: When Alternative Energy Subsidies End . . .Government Accountability
Where has PA Stimulus Money Gone?
I’ve gotten a couple requests for information on where Pennsylvania’s stimulus money has gone. The Pennsylvania stimulus site is here. …
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Read More: Where has PA Stimulus Money Gone?State Budget
PA’s Biggest Porkers
Taxpayers for Common Sense has a new database on FY 2010 earmarks by Congress. As a state, Pennsylvania ranks 6th in value of earmarks, getting $366 million from 457…
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Read More: PA’s Biggest PorkersTaxes & Economy
Some Stimulating Numbers
On the one year anniversary of the “stimulus”, OpenMarket.org has some numbers on how well the stimulus has worked: * The unemployment rate has increased since the stimulus bill…
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Read More: Some Stimulating NumbersState Budget
The Unemployment Compensation Hole
Yesterday, Secretary of Labor and Industry Sandy Vito testified before the House Appropriations Committee in the usual round of budget hearings. She reported that the unemployment compensation fund is $2.2…
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Read More: The Unemployment Compensation Hole