Erik Telford

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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.” 

Leasing out turnpike could be $30B windfall

  • November 18, 2006

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story on the opportunity policymakers can consider in lieu of raising taxes and fees to pay for transportation infrastructure needs. Topics on this page…

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Sense of Irony?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 17, 2006

The PA House Democratic Leadership Letter features two items that either show a sense of irony, or a complete blindless to the shadiness of Harrisburg politics. The first items…

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McCain: Defeat Was Payback for Losing ‘Our Principles’

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 17, 2006

From the New York Times. McCain hits all the ways conservatives looked to big government – spending increases, new entitlement programs, trying to bribe voters with pork barrel projects,…

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Learning from the election

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 17, 2006

The lesson from the Congressional election is “Money can’t buy me love” says Ed Feulner. Feulner will give the Keynote address at the Commonwealth Foundation’s Gala on December…

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Poverty and Spending

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 17, 2006

Report released Tuesday from the Goldwater Institute shows that states with the lowest taxes and spending reduced their poverty rates, while states with the highest taxes and spending saw…

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Pension and retirement benefits for lawmakers

  • November 17, 2006

The Beaver County Times on the retirement benefits for Democrats Veon, LaGrotta, and Leskovitz. As nearly one-quarter of the Legislature makes its final adieu next week,they face a…

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Preaching the Gospel of Small Government

  • November 17, 2006

This New York Times story is the first of a two-part series on the state-based public policy think tank movement. Topics on this page The New…

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Milton Friedman Passes Away at 94

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 16, 2006

Milton Friedman Passes Away at 94. Mr. Friedman’s ideas and work have had a profound influence on the Commonwealth Foundation and on me. Here are some additional links and…

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Here we go again

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 16, 2006

After dozens of incumbent Congressional Republicans lost and a Wall-Street Journal poll showing that voters’ number one domestic issue was banning pork projects (following the explosion in the number…

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Think Twice on Tax Credits (Even Popular Ones)

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 16, 2006

Tax Foundation analysis shows that tax credits mean that only 40% of income is taxed – in other words, if we eliminate these tax credits we could cut federal…

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Read More: Think Twice on Tax Credits (Even Popular Ones)

New CPI & Lawmakers COLA

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 16, 2006

The October Consumer Price Index was released today – while this will be studied by investors and economic analysts for multiple reasons, it is also of note for this…

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Commonwealth Foundation on PCN

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 15, 2006

If you missed today’s luncheon on Transportation funding, you can catch in on PCN – Pennsylvania Cable Network tomorrow at 2:15 pm. Topics on this page…

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What should the Dems do?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 15, 2006

Greg Mankiw analyzes new VA Senator Jim Webb’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal on income inequality: Erecting barriers to trade, raising the minimum wage, encouraging the cartelization…

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Reform on trial in Harrisburg

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 15, 2006

Editorial by yours truly in the York Dispatch Topics on this page The York Dispatch…

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PHEAA Ordered to Open Books

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 15, 2006

The Commonwealth Court rules that the Open Records law, which applies to all state agencies, applies to PHEAA, which is a state agency that had refused to disclose many of…

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State eyes gas tax increase

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 14, 2006

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review coverage of the Transporation Funding Commission’s report and proposals to increase various taxes for increased transportation Spending. Topics on this page Pittsburgh Tribune-Review…

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House votes to remove inheritance property tax

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 14, 2006

The PA House has voted to eliminate the state inheritance tax over four years, the Post-Gazette reports. Topics on this page PA HousePittsburgh Post-Gazette…

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Freshmen call for leadership reform

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 14, 2006

Herald Standard article on today’s House leadership elections. Newly elected Democratic Representatives “Mahoney, Kula, and Galloway said they would reveal their votes to the press” Read our…

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State court rejects lawsuit over ‘perks’ for legislators

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 14, 2006

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp, who filed the Commonwealth Court suit in February, based his claim on a section of the constitution providing for legislators to…

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An English instructor

  • November 13, 2006

Dimitri Vassilaros of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Simon Campbell’s crusade to give children a strike-free education in Pennsylvania. Topics on this page Dimitri VassilarosEnglish…

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