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.”
Agriculture Number 1?
I’ve seen politicians, from both parties and from all regions of the state, throw around the claim that Agriculture is PA’s number one industry, most recently in the Governor’s…
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Benefield Testimony on PCN
My testimony on campaign finance limits will be carried live on PCN today. I am scheduled to take the hot seat at 1:30. The hearing will re-air beginning at…
Media
Read More: Benefield Testimony on PCNGovernment Accountability
Campaign Finance “Reform” is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Good afternoon. My name is Nathan Benefield; I am the Director of Policy Research for the Commonwealth Foundation, a public policy research and educational institution based in Harrisburg. I…
Testimony
Read More: Campaign Finance “Reform” is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Back to cyber school
Rob Gebhart in the Somerset Daily American, looks at cyber schools from the perspective of the student, rather than repeating the criticism of the school board and teachers’ union…
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Rep. Peterson on tolling I-80
Congressman John Peterson op-ed on tolling I-80 in today’s Morning Call.
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Earmarks continue to dominate Congress
John Fund in today’s Wall Street Journal on the joke of earmark reform in Congress, including embarrasing defense of earmarks by Congressman Murtha. And here is the Club for…
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Think again before tolling I-80
CEO of Weis Markets on the poorly vetted Act 44 plan to toll I-80 and raise Turnpike tolls in the Patriot News.
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Running for Governor
Grassroots PA has been busy tracking who may run for PA Governor in 2010. Their recent additions, including two today, include Tom Knox; Catherine Baker Knoll; Don…
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Bridge Tragedy: Searching Congress for Structural Flaws
Sen. Tom Coburn on the pork barrel transportation spending that takes money away from structurally deficient roads and bridges. Coburn calls out former PA Congressman Bud Shuster and the…
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Economic literacy test: High school seniors beat Congress
Wall Street Journal article on US highschooler’s performance on NAEP’s economics test: Pop quiz. Which has been most important in reducing poverty over time: a) taxes, b)…
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Have Federal Income Taxes Gotten More Progressive Since 2000?
The Tax Foundation asks Have Federal Income Taxes Gotten More Progressive Since 2000?. Their answer is YES, with a chart to show it.
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Don’t talk about religion?
John Baer in the Daily News writes that the public should not care about a presidential candidate’s (Romney specifically) religion (Mormonism). But it writing this, Baer doesn’t argue that…
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The Schip Revelation
Wall Street Journal on the absurdity of the debate on SCHIP Expansion: Schip was supposed to help children from low-income families … Schip was created as a…
Media
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Economics of Sports Stadiums
Brief assessment of the merits of taxpayer subsidies of stadiums, with some link,. from the The Tax Foundation Blog. In other words, the Pittsburgh Penguins arena deal won’t…
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Clamor for more taxes and spending
Reading Eagle editorial repreats many of the Wrong Lessons of the Minnesota bridge collapse – namely that the problem is a lack of funding and taxes for transportation.
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Another distortion of charter schools’ “Cost”
Jim McCaffrey’s article in the Evening Bulletin continues the assault that charter schools “cost too much”. Yet this is a distortion of the truth. School districts continue to complain…
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Let Wisconsin Experiment with Socialized Medicine
John Stossel supports Wisconsin’s $15 billion socialized medicine plan. He thinks by screwing up health care badly enough – apparently we didn’t learn that lesson the Soviet Union, not…
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Penn Pike rush hire of engineers to do toll conversion of I-80
Penn Pike rush hire of engineers to do toll conversion of I-80 – from Toll Roads News…
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Be careful what you put on your Facebook page
I have seen several media stories about Giuliani’s daughter’s Facebook page, in which she joined an “Obama for President Group,” but don’t know why. But I will use this…
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Cyber schools cut districts’ expenses
Letter from a cyber school CEO and former school district superintendent to the Patriot News on how cyber schools save taxpayers money. Read more about how cyber schools save…
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Read More: Cyber schools cut districts’ expenses
The Wrong Lessons of the Bridge Collapse
Brad Edmonds with the Daily Commentary of the Mises Institute writes that privatizing bridges and roads, not more government control, will prevent tragedies like the Minnesota bridge collapse:…
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Read More: The Wrong Lessons of the Bridge Collapse