Nathan Benefield
Senior Vice President
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 senior vice president, 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.”
Uninsured will grow under RendellCare
Pop quiz: The Rendell administration has estimated that 800,000 Pennsylvania adults are currently uninsured. If Governor Rendell’s “Cover All Pennsylvanians” were implemented as designed – costing up to $1.4 billion…
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The (Tax) War Between the States
Art Laffer and Steven Moore in today’s Wall Street Journal look at how tax competitiveness between states (i.e. lower taxes) results in greater population and economic growth: Of…
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Calendars for Property Tax Relief
ave your Capitol Calendars! You know those calendars you get from state legislators, which come with “Compliments of [Your Legislator]”, though they were paid with…
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Rolling out all the reasons against tolling I-80
Post-Gazette article reviews all the reasons to oppose I-80 tolls (or at least many of them).
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Arthur Laffer on taxes
Interesting conversation with Arthur Laffer on the effect of tax cuts in The Curious Capitalist blog. Also check out Laffer’s response to “Crackpot Economics”…
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A Zero-Sum Wealth Quiz
Coyote Blog takes on the zero-sum game myth of wealth and the economy, with a simple comparison of the rich of 100 years ago and the middle class of…
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All’s good, according to Bill DeWeese
Pennsyltucky Politics gets a positive prognosis from Bill DeWeese (along with some choice words about Patriot News reporter Charlie Thompson, “slithering around in his usual unkempt reptilian fashion.”) DeWeese…
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Sam Smith joins I-80 Toll Opposition
House Minority Leader Sam Smith has joined in the calls for the US Dept. of Transportation to reject I-80 tolls. Get his news release and letter here.
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Toll war building strength
Article in the Centre Daily Times on the Anti I-80 tolling movement.
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Anti I-80 Tolling Blogs and Websites
Here are a couple of new websites and blogs focusing solely on the tolling of I-80 and Act 44. The I-80 Toll Disaster Blog (including an interesting post titled…
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Pennsylvania gets an “F” for worker Freedom
A report card from the Alliance for Worker Freedom gives Pennsylvania an “F” for meeting none of the ten measures of worker freedom. As with all states…
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What do “highly-paid lobbyists” want?
I had to share this email exchange between Simon Campbell of StopTeacherStrikes and Rep. Karen Beyer, prime sponsor of HB 446 (which, in the name of “accountability” includes…
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DePasquale to take on school spending
One lawmaker who seemingly did read our Edifice Complex report is Eugene DePasquale, who is going to propose legislation to “to rein in spending on school construction”. DePasquale…
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Response to Cyber School News Release
Following our call for rejection of unequal limits on cyber schools (which passed the House Education Committee today), I had an interesting email exchange with a public school employee.
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Rx For Health Care: Pain
Robert Samuelson has a interesting commentary on health care costs: The politics of health care rests on a mass illusion: Most Americans think that someone else pays for…
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The Truth About “Alternative Energy”
Roy Innis on Townhall.com on “The Truth About ‘Alternative Energy'”…
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State Senators Against Interstate 80 Tolling
Eleven state senators (Sens. Gordner, MJ White, Baker, Boscola, Browne, Corman, Earll, Eichelberger, Folmer, Piccola, and Robbins) have sent a letter to US Transportation Secretary Peters expressing concerns over tolling…
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RendellCare Version 1.2
Governor Rendell has now stated that he won’t sign the extension of the MCare program (which funds medical malpractice claims) unless it includes funding of his Cover All Pennsylvania…
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600 Things caused by global warming
Here a list of 600 things attributed to global warming, all with links to the article source (HT to Government Bytes) . For my favorite: a tossup between…
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Share the Wealth, Joe Camel
The PA Attorney General has joined a lawsuit against RJ Reynolds demanding $7 million ($100 million among the several states in the suit) because a cartoon version of Joe…
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Religion and Politics (and Health Care)
Rep. Scott Boyd offers a rebuttal to Governor Rendell’s claims that Jesus want Christians to support his Cover All Pennsylvanians proposal. Boyd instead calls for some free-market…
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