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.”
Lawmakers have made few real reforms
Chambersburg Public Opinion assesses the reforms (or lack thereof) enacted by lawmakers Topics on this page Public Opinion…
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A mad dash to influence Pa. energy plans
Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a number of special interests are busy lobbying regarding energy policy. If you are surprised that special interests want to get a piece of the…
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Data on Jobs and Taxes
Here are a couple of interesting compilations of data: Tax Foundation analysis of IRS data – Income and Taxes by income percentileSkeptical Optimist on Job Data –…
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DeWeese proposes “ethics training”
Philadelphia Inquirer on how Bill DeWeese plans to “clean up” Harrisburg in the wake of the Attorney General’s investigation of his office in the Bonus-Gate scandal (among other things):…
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PHEAA chief asked to step down
Jan Murphy in the Patriot News on the more abrupt forced resignation of Dick Willey from PHEAA, follwing the Auditor General’s preliminary report. Apparently even board members like…
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Audit Rips PHEAA For Hersheypark Day, Huge Bonuses
WTAE Pittsburgh’s Jim Parsons on PHEAA. Pennsylvania’s student loan agency, PHEAA, has paid hundreds of employees more than $7.5 million in bonuses over the last three years, according…
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Read More: Audit Rips PHEAA For Hersheypark Day, Huge Bonuses
When the Story’s Got Children, Who Needs Facts?
Amy Menefee of the Business & Media Institute on what the SCHIP expansion would really do, and the “but its for the kids” media onslaught. (Balanced coverage from…
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Video from Energy Policy Luncheon
View all Commonwealth Foundation Video or subscribe on YouTube. Topics on this page YouTube…
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$7.5M bonus bonanza at PHEAA
Brett Lieberman on the latest embarrasing revelation of PHEAA’s extravagances, from the state audit of the agency. Here is the Auditor General’s news release on the interim audit…
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I-80 tolls for Transit?
Philadelphia Inquirer article repeat a claim from PA Turnpike head Joe Brimmeier that none of the tolls from I-80 would be used to fund mass transit. Of course this…
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Jesus: Roman Empire Should Provide Universal Health Care
Remember the passage in the Bible where Jesus called upon the Roman Empire to provide universal, government-run health insurance? Well, Governor Rendell says it is there: Rendell…
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SCHIP Articles
MSNBC.com article on how richer states are pushing for the SCHIP Expansion. Also Greg Mankiw posts a explanation of Bush’s position on SCHIP – a good overview, but…
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Is Ethanol the ‘Energy Security’ Solution?
Washington Post “Think Tank Town” column on the use of ethanol to make us “energy indpendent”. Topics on this page The Washington Post…
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Preschool for All!
National Review article (from Free Library) on the push for government-run “universal preschool”: The irony is that early education is already an American strength. The National Center for…
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Energy Snapshot Powerpoint
The PowerPoint summary of the various energy plans from today’s luncheon can be found here as a slideshow and here as a PDF file. If you missed the…
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Bonus Ban Measure Passes State Government Committee
John Eichelberger’s Bonus Ban Bill – banning all bonuses in state government, PHEAA, legislative staffers, executive branch, etc. – cleared its first hurdle today. Topics on this page…
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Interest to lease turnpike is broad
Philadelphia Inquirer on the interest in leasing the Turnpike. List of companies completing RFQ is included (several companies entered joint proposals – thus there are 34 companies listed, but…
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Spain constructors eye 21.2 bln eur Pennsylvania highway privatisation
Thomson Financial on potential Spanish bidders on a Turnpike lease (RFQs were due today). Once you get past the British spelling (“privatisation”) , you need to covert Euros…
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No time for energy conservation when PR is at stake
Rendell’s energy plan calls for a whole host of subsidies and tax credits to end our “dependence on foreign oil”. Cutting taxpayer-funded bus tours to promote his energy plan…
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FHWA responds on I-80 tolls
Toll Roads News posts and analyzes a letter from the Federal Highway Administration to the Turnpike Commission on tolling I-80. The letter doesn’t say much other than the…
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Federal Energy Tax Policy
This research paper from 2006 offers a good summary of current federal tax policy – taxes and tax credits – toward energy. Things I learned reading it include:…
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