Nathan Benefield
Chief Policy Officer
An Ohio native, Nate holds an undergraduate degree in political science and economics and a master’s degree in public service management from DePaul University in Chicago. He also completed his doctoral studies (ABD) in political science at Loyola University, also in Chicago.
Nate joined the Commonwealth Foundation in 2005. Now as Chief Policy Officer , he provides strategic leadership as well as operational oversight spanning policy analysis, government relations, marketing, and communications.
Nate has researched and written extensively on public policy issues including the state budget, public sector labor reform, government spending and taxes, liquor privatization, education, and economic development. Under Nate’s policy leadership, the Commonwealth Foundation’s work on public sector pension law helped drive the bipartisan pension reform of 2017, heralded by the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post as an example for other states to follow.
Nate has testified numerous times before state legislative committees and is often called upon by legislators and members of the media to provide expertise. He is a frequent commentator on both television and radio, and his writings have appeared across the state and nationally in outlets including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Patriot-News, and Weekly Standard.
Nate’s favorite rock song and personal motto are both “Don’t Stop Believin.”
Taxes & Economy
The Truth About Oil and Gasoline
API has produced a nifty primer on oil, gasoline, and other energy sources. Among the interesting graphs: where does each dollar spent on gasoline go (pg 9 in the…
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State and Local Business Tax Report
The Council On State Taxation has released their 2008 summary of state and local business taxes, with the national picture, state-specific and industry-specific data. Click here for the summary…
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President Bush Praises EITC
From the REACH Foundation: President Bush spoke about the need to make a good education for every child a national priority. The President then highlighted Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit…
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The Economics of College
Thomas Sowell has a three part (so far) series on Townhall.com on the economics of college: Part 1 covers the perverse incentives of taxpayer subsidies for college,Part…
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Read More: The Economics of CollegeGovernment Accountability
Show Me the Spending, PA
Sen. Browne has introduced legislation that would create a free, online database of state spending (contracts and grants over $25,000) along with details about individual line items in the…
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Read More: Show Me the Spending, PATaxes & Economy
Election Reflection from Democracy Rising
Tim Potts over at Democracry Rising has an analysis of the election that features a roundup of results, (Grassroots PA has the full rundown), but also raises the…
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Tax Freedom Day: The Music Video
Here is a something a bit lighter for anyone with an election day hangover: Tax Freedom Day: The Music Video The national Tax Freedom Day is today, as calculated…
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Read More: Tax Freedom Day: The Music VideoGovernment Accountability
One of these people is going to be president
Jonathan Garthwaite points out that the three leading presidential candidates all made their last attempt to reach out to the “common man” in advance of today’s PA primary by…
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The teachers’ union still hates school choice
The head of the PSEA, the largest teacher union in the state, takes me to task for in a letter to the editor for proposing “private school vouchers” as…
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Read More: The teachers’ union still hates school choiceHealth Care
Q& A on State Health Care Reform
The NCPA has a new report on State Health Care Reform: Key Questions and Answers, highlighting many of the key policy questions, including “Does universal health coverage lower health…
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Read More: Q& A on State Health Care ReformTaxes & Economy
The Truth about Milton Friedman
David Henderson has a detailed reponse on the Cato-at-liberty blog to a New York Times article on the economic legacy of Milton Friedman. The Times piece presented the…
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The Keystone Primary Stakes
Michael Barone has a interesting column in the Wall Street Journal about the Pennsylvania primary, with a good, quick synopisis of Pennsylvania’s political history.
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Flat Tax vs. Fair Tax
Below is a video from the Center from Freedom and Prosperity on proposals for an overall of the tax system. We covered both the flat tax and fair…
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South Carolina’s Contender
The Wall Street Journal had a piece on Saturday on the the Vice-Presidential prospects of Mark Sanford. I point it out not because my phone is ringing off the…
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Wisconsin votes to protect cyber schools
As we had noted previously that cyber schools in Wisconsin are also facing attack (primarily from the teachers unions), I thought I would pass along this story Pennsylvania…
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Which special interest is closest to state capitols?
Education school Jay Greene launched a new blog on education policy with post on the proximity of teacher unions to state capitols. If you stand on…
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Read More: Which special interest is closest to state capitols?Health Care
Health Savings Sabotage
The Wall Street Journal has a column on a bill that passed the US House that would undermine Health Savings Accounts (also see the SPN blog on this…
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Read More: Health Savings SabotageHealth Care
The Health Insurance Mafia
Here is a great editorial in the Wall Street Journal on how the health insurance industry acts like the Mafia: Most discussions about the rising…
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Read More: The Health Insurance MafiaTaxes & Economy
Getting Better, Not Bitter, in Pennsylvania
WebMemo from the Heritage Foundation about whether Pennsylvanians should be “bitter” over all the jobs “lost”. I would point readers to my commentary on Prospering in Pennsylvania, but…
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Read More: Getting Better, Not Bitter, in PennsylvaniaGovernment Accountability
58 lawmakers who kept the pay raise
Rock the Capital has released their latest (final) update on the 2005 legislative pay raise – who took the unvouchered expenses, who kept them, who paid them back, who…
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Read More: 58 lawmakers who kept the pay raiseGovernment Accountability
“Easy” Real Change, by Newt Gingrich
As promised, here is my review of Newt Gingrich’s latest book, Real Change. This was a frustrating read for me. For starters, Newt’s premise is how we…
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