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.”
Taxpayer Protection Act Introduced
Senator Regola news release on the introduction of the Taxpayer Protection Act in legislation. Read the Commonwealth Foundation’s news release on protecting the taxpayer.
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Mass Transit P3s
A new example of how competitive contracting for mass transit services can work is the recent Houston partnership for four bus lines. More examples can be found in…
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Underpaid Public Servants?
Jan Murphy of the Patriot News provides an analysis of the highest paying jobs in state government. A total of 3,042 employees on the state payroll earn over $100,000…
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Why are people uninsured?
CAHI brief looks at why people are uninsured and what policies can reduce the number of uninsured. These include individual tax credits, limited benefit plans, eliminating mandatory benefits, allowing…
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Pork Goes to War
New York Times editorial by Tom Schatz of CAGW on the pork included in the “emergency” bill for troop funding. Included in the list of pork is…
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Later Tax Freedom Day
The Tax Foundation released their annual Tax Freedom Day® Report yesterday. The bad news: it will take Pennsylvanians 117 days to pay off their taxes, making our Tax Freedom…
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Perzel v. Benefield on Turnpike
Speaker Emeritus Perzel thinks we should add more taxpayer-backed debt to fund road repairs, while I argue that a Turnpike lease is better than the bevy of tolls and debt…
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Exception turns into rule for property tax increases
So much for protecting property taxpayers. The Patriot-News looks at the numbe of districts applying for exemptions to Act 1. Turns out 210 of the 501 school districts have…
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Duquesne law professor under fire
Duquesne law professor Bruce Ledewitz (website) has been a harsh critic of the PA court system, including criticizing the Supreme Court ruling to reinstate their own pay-raise, and…
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Cost of Insurance Mandates
A new report from CAHI for 2007 lists the health insurance mandates by state and the estimated cost of each mandate. PA has a43 identified mandates, each of which…
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In Support of a Limited Constitutional Convention
Delivered on Monday, March 26, 2007 Thank you Chairman Piccola and members of the Senate State Government Committee for the opportunity to share with you the position of the…
Commentary
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Who Pays America’s Tax Burden
Tax Foundation Report breaking down both who pays taxes by income quintile and who recieves the most from government spending. This includes both federal taxes and spending along with…
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The Cost of Tort
A new study from the Pacific Research Institute estimates the US tort system imposes wasteful cost of $865 billion. In terms non-billionaires can understand, this equates to almost $10,000…
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Farm Subsidies for the Rich
Wall Street Journal article on opposition to reducing the cap on farm subisidies for those earning between $200,000 and $2.5 million a year, including those “farming” in Washington DC.
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Reformers Everywhere
Yesterday should illustrate how “reform” in Harrisburg has become more popular than the Beatles. First, the Senate State Government committee held a hearing on a possible state Constitutional Convention, at…
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Free-Market Approaches to Fiscal Policy
Good morning. My name is Nathan Benefield; I am the Director of Policy Research for the Commonwealth Foundation, a research and policy institute in Harrisburg. I want to thank the…
Testimony
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Time for ’pike commission to hit the road
Bill Keisling editorial in the Tribune Democrat on the need to privatize the Turnpike and get rid of the corruption of the Turnpike Commission. Topics on this page…
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Turnpike plan makes leasing look good
The Post-Gazette has caught on to the benefits of a Turnpike Lease, at least contrasted with the Turnpike Commissions counter-proposal of more tolls on the Turnpike and on…
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Just who gets this check?
Morning Call article on semi-anonymous corporate welfare. After questioning the Rendell Adminstration about the recipients of an announced handout, the Morning Call was told they don’t give out that…
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Rendell pressing to lease turnpike
Governor Rendell almost sounds like Milton Friedman is his arguments for a Turnpike Lease in the Philadelphia Inquirer (well, not quite, but at least he recognizes the folly of…
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Republican RX
Wall Street Journal article on Sen. Tom Coburn’s free-market healthcare reform proposals. Mr. Coburn, like the White House, would remove the subsidy corporations get for health care, and…
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