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.”
Education
The Pennsylvania State (Everything But) Education Association
Almost as predictable as the beginning of the football season is the start of the strike season by public school employees in Pennsylvania. And the kick-off to the 2002-03 school…
Commentary
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Statewide Teacher Contract Will Destroy The Teaching Profession In Pennsylvania
Testimony of Matthew J. Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation Thank you Mr. Chairman, Rep. Wilt, and Members of the House Labor Relations Committee for the invitation to testify this morning on…
Commentary
Read More: Statewide Teacher Contract Will Destroy The Teaching Profession In PennsylvaniaEducation
The Pennsylvania State Education Association: Compelling Teachers, Lobbying Politicians, and Increasing Taxes
Executive Summary Originally founded as the Pennsylvania State Teachers Association in 1852, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) has transformed itself from a professional development organization for educators into one…
Fact Sheet
Read More: The Pennsylvania State Education Association: Compelling Teachers, Lobbying Politicians, and Increasing TaxesTaxes & Economy
R. A. D. is Bad for Pennsylvania
Executive Summary A quiet campaign is currently underway to increase taxes on consumers in four central Pennsylvania counties. By granting elected officials in those counties the power to create a…
Fact Sheet
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Pennsylvania’s Under-Funded Public Schools and the Special Education Burden
Testimony of Matthew J. Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation Thank you members of the Committee for the invitation to testify this morning. My name is Matthew Brouillette and I am the…
Commentary
Read More: Pennsylvania’s Under-Funded Public Schools and the Special Education BurdenEducation
The Myth of the Special Education Burden
Executive Summary Over the past thirty years, school property taxes in Pennsylvania have increased at a rate more than twice the concurrent rate of inflation. Local school boards—those elected officials…
Fact Sheet
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Three Principles for Necessary for Successful Property-Tax/School-Funding Reform in Pennsylvania
Testimony of Matthew J. Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation Thank you members of the Committee for the invitation to testify this morning. My name is Matthew Brouillette and I am the…
Commentary
Read More: Three Principles for Necessary for Successful Property-Tax/School-Funding Reform in PennsylvaniaEducation
Dispelling the Myth of Pennsylvanias Under-Funded Public Schools
Executive Summary The perennial debate over education funding in Pennsylvania—when it is not about how much more schools should get—is about how the taxpayers should fund the schools. Current discussions…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Dispelling the Myth of Pennsylvanias Under-Funded Public SchoolsPublic Union Democracy
Pennsylvania Businesses Can Now Spend Less Time In The Courtroom
By their very nature, businesspeople are willing to take significant risks to compete in the marketplace. Indeed, every day the profit motive compels people to invest their life savings in…
Commentary
Read More: Pennsylvania Businesses Can Now Spend Less Time In The CourtroomEducation
More Dollars Will Not Produce More Scholars
Just one day after Pennsylvania celebrated Tax Freedom Day 2002—the day when citizens stop toiling just to pay their federal, state, and local taxes and are finally free to work…
Commentary
Read More: More Dollars Will Not Produce More ScholarsTaxes & Economy
Budget Basic: Pennsylvanias Economy Loses When Policymakers Try to Pick Winners
Executive Summary For too long, Pennsylvania has relied too heavily on generously funded but ultimately ineffectual taxpayer-funded government subsidy programs in an attempt to stimulate economic growth. The strategy of…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Budget Basic: Pennsylvanias Economy Loses When Policymakers Try to Pick WinnersEducation
Do Our Schools Really Need More Money?
If your wallet starts feeling a lot lighter, you can thank the administrators of Pennsylvania’s public school system. On March 12, over 50 superintendents and board members descended on the…
Commentary
Read More: Do Our Schools Really Need More Money?State Budget
Barriers to Entrepreneurship: How Pennsylvanias Government Stifles Job Creation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There is no doubt that Pennsylvania benefited from the booming national economy of the 1990s. But when compared to the rest of the United States, the Commonwealth’s economic…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Barriers to Entrepreneurship: How Pennsylvanias Government Stifles Job CreationTaxes & Economy
Private InvestorsNot TaxpayersShould Fund Lancaster Baseball Stadium
The siren song of professional baseball is seducing yet another Pennsylvania community. This time the object of affection is Lancaster, and taxpayers had better hope this love affair hits the…
Commentary
Read More: Private InvestorsNot TaxpayersShould Fund Lancaster Baseball StadiumTaxes & Economy
National Sales Tax Scheme Would Cost PA Consumers $381 Million in First Year; Would Forfeit Up To 94,000 PA Jobs
A high-pressure push is on to add Pennsylvania to the list of states that agree to force consumers to pay more for all purchases they make online or from catalogues.
Commentary
Read More: National Sales Tax Scheme Would Cost PA Consumers $381 Million in First Year; Would Forfeit Up To 94,000 PA JobsTaxes & Economy
Philadelphia Stadium Deal: Great for Teams, Not for Taxpayers
After years of asking Santa for shiny new stadiums, the Phillies and Eagles may finally fulfill that Christmas wish courtesy of Philadelphia Mayor John Street and his merry band of…
Commentary
Read More: Philadelphia Stadium Deal: Great for Teams, Not for TaxpayersTaxes & Economy
Kvaerner Audit On Course With Details, Sails By Larger Question
A new state audit is re-aggravating a seasickness that has been plaguing Pennsylvanians since the launch of the deal to bring a Norwegian shipbuilding company to the former Philadelphia Naval…
Commentary
Read More: Kvaerner Audit On Course With Details, Sails By Larger QuestionTaxes & Economy
Stadiums Don’t Deliver On Promises
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this hearing. My name is Grant Gulibon, and I am Senior Policy Analyst with The Commonwealth Foundation…
Commentary
Read More: Stadiums Don’t Deliver On PromisesTaxes & Economy
Growth and Pennsylvanias Environment: The Facts
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …
Fact Sheet
Read More: Growth and Pennsylvanias Environment: The FactsTaxes & Economy
If You Build It, They Will Still Leave
After months of wrangling, City Council and the Street Administration have finally agreed on a blueprint to put deals in place for taxpayer-funded stadiums for the Phillies and Eagles. While…
Commentary
Read More: If You Build It, They Will Still LeaveTaxes & Economy
Time To Stop Tinkering With Job-Killing Tax: Just Take It Off The Books
Some taxes are so bad, and do so much damage to the economy, that tinkering with them year after year does little good. Among the list of job-killing business taxes,…
Commentary
Read More: Time To Stop Tinkering With Job-Killing Tax: Just Take It Off The Books