On Tuesday, April 22, the first session of the 114th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned. While no legislative sessions are exactly alike, this year’s session is a true standout for expanding freedom in education, economic opportunity, healthcare access, and property rights. Here is a look at the policies and priorities advanced by our advocacy partner, Beacon Impact, that were enacted this year.
Education freedom: Beacon has long supported educational freedom, and the Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) Act finally answered the call many parents have been asking for: to give parents and families a voice in the child’s education. With the EFS, Tennessee families can use their state education tax dollars in the best way they see fit. Though limited to 20,000 scholarships in the first year, the legislation allows the program to grow with demand, allowing families to choose the best educational opportunity for their children.
Furthermore, lawmakers protected education entrepreneurs and learning pods, such as homeschool co-ops and small, non-traditional schooling options, from overbearing and costly state and local regulations. With these protections, families who gather to learn can be confident they will not be regulated out of existence, and that Tennessee supports the rights of families to educate their children.
Economic opportunity: Tennessee continues to be a magnet for jobs and opportunity, with many turning to “gig economy” positions that provide freedom and flexibility for their lives and schedules. Under “The Voluntary Portable Benefit Act”, these independent contractors are able to receive portable benefits from companies without endangering their employment classification. Portable benefits allow these contractors to keep their independence and flexibility without having to forego benefits. This will allow more Tennessee workers to build their futures the way they see fit.
Expanding access to healthcare: In 2015, Tennessee passed the Phil Timp-Amanda Wilcox Right to Try Act. This law allows terminally ill patients to receive medical treatments that have not received final Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Subsequently, this law was adopted at the federal level. Unfortunately, the first Right to Right law has not kept pace with medical innovation that now allows a patient diagnosed with a rare illness to receive individualized treatment based on their genetic information. Right to Try 2.0 for individualized treatments will solve this problem for terminally ill patients with nowhere else to turn. Now, terminal patients with rare or ultra-rare diseases will have more options for potentially life-saving treatment.
Affordable Housing/Property Rights: While Beacon’s push for a local government property tax ban did not come to fruition this year, lawmakers passed a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate a property tax that remains on the books and was collected into the 1940s. Like the income tax ban in 2016, Tennesseans will now have the opportunity in 2026 to vote to ban the state from ever imposing a statewide property tax.
The 2025 legislative session saw monumental wins for freedom in Tennessee.