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.”
Government Accountability
Ghost voting still taking place in Pennsylvania House
Both Grassroots PA and Capitol Ideas have made note of yesterday’s PA House vote in which Republican leader Sam Smith noted some lawmakers were “voting” while they weren’t…
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Read More: Ghost voting still taking place in Pennsylvania HouseTaxes & Economy
“Deregulation” and a “Great Depression”
While you listen to Matt Brouillette ( to chat with Matt and listeners on TalkShoe click here) discuss the bailout and the causes of the financial “crisis”, here…
Media
Read More: “Deregulation” and a “Great Depression”Taxes & Economy
Tax Increase Coming to Pennsylvania
State Senators Gib Armstrong and Vince Fumo are both projecting a massive budget deficit ($2.5 billion according to Fumo) and believe that the only way to pay for it is with…
Media
Read More: Tax Increase Coming to PennsylvaniaTaxes & Economy
Pennsylvania’s Business Tax Climate below average
The Tax Foundation has released its latest State Business Tax Climate Index. Pennsylvania ranks a middling 28th on the index, which takes into account five factors (listed in order…
Media
Read More: Pennsylvania’s Business Tax Climate below averageState Budget
How much of a budget deficit is Pennsylvania facing?
Capitolwire.com is reporting that there is a top-secret memo from one of the four legislative caucuses estimating that Pennsylvania is facing a potential $2.5 billion budget deficit going into…
Media
Read More: How much of a budget deficit is Pennsylvania facing?Health Care
McCain’s Health Care Tax Credit
Following Joe Biden’s claim that McCain’s health care plan will result in millions of workers being dropped from employers’ health care plans a number of free-market thinkers have rebutted. …
Media
Read More: McCain’s Health Care Tax CreditTaxes & Economy
Bailout Passes, Stock Market Drops (and other myths debunked)
Remember how earlier today I said that those who point to the stock market as an indicator that the bailout needs to pass are being silly? The proponents of…
Media
Read More: Bailout Passes, Stock Market Drops (and other myths debunked)Taxes & Economy
Are bailout proponents con artists?
In addition to the rhetoric that we need a bailout now, or we will face a great depression (which has been debunked), bailout proponents are selling the idea…
Media
Read More: Are bailout proponents con artists?Health Care
Health care in US and Canada compared
I doubt this will surprise regular readers of this blog, but Canada’s single payer health system isn’t all that Michael Moore makes it out to be. From a new…
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Read More: Health care in US and Canada comparedTaxes & Economy
How Government Stoked the Mania
Great read in the Wall Street Journal on How Government Stoked the Mania, starting with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and later how the Community Reinvestment Act, and the…
Media
Read More: How Government Stoked the ManiaHealth Care
RendellCare 3.0
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has revised his proposal to increase government spending and eligibility for health insurance yet again. The latest edition has lowered the cost of the program…
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Read More: RendellCare 3.0Health Care
McCain is Right on Interstate Health Insurance
Merrill Matthews in the Wall Street Journal writes that John McCain’s plan to allow individuals and small businesses to buy insurance across state lines – a policy championed in…
Media
Read More: McCain is Right on Interstate Health InsuranceGovernment Accountability
Constitutional Convention in IL gets a boost
The Illinois Constitutional Convention ballot question, discussed in a previous post, got a couple of boosts in the last week. First came news that the Cook County Assessor…
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Read More: Constitutional Convention in IL gets a boostTaxes & Economy
That’s our General Assembly
With a budget deficit and possible tax increase looming, federal denial of I-80 tolling opening up a gap in transportation funding (and the Turnpike Commission borrowing against future…
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Read More: That’s our General AssemblyTaxes & Economy
Free market groups opposing bailout
A coalition of 27 organizations, including the Commonwealth Foundation, have signed on to an open letter to US Senators put together by NTU in opposition to the $700…
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Read More: Free market groups opposing bailoutState Budget
PA Budget Deficit Growing
The latest Pennsylvania Revenue Department report indicates that collections were $160 million below estimates in September, and $280 million below for the fiscal year which began in July.
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Read More: PA Budget Deficit GrowingRegulation
Convention Center no economic savior
Post-Gazette looks at the failure of the $373 million Pittsburgh convention center to create an economic boom – or even to outdraw the old convention center (HT: Grassroots…
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Read More: Convention Center no economic saviorTaxes & Economy
Not facing a Great Depression
Here are a couple of good articles on the bailout (and the rhetoric in favor of it) by Cato scholars. Alan Reynolds writes that “saying we’re in for another…
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Read More: Not facing a Great DepressionHealth Care
Converting Medicaid into Premium Assistance
The Heritage Foundation has a new backgrounder (click here for PDF) on how states can convert Medicaid spending into premium assistance for insurance – a proposal which would…
Media
Read More: Converting Medicaid into Premium AssistanceHealth Care
Bailing Out Massachusetts
The Foundry Blog of the Heritage Foundation has discovered that the federal government will “bail out” Massachusetts troubled health care plan (e.g. RomneyCare) with a $4.2 billion increase…
Media
Read More: Bailing Out MassachusettsTaxes & Economy
Root causes of the financial “crisis”
I attended a conference late last week feature a number of economists, and was surprised to discover a great deal of disagreement about what caused the “crisis” in the financial…
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Read More: Root causes of the financial “crisis”