Tennessee should create an economic environment that allows workers, entrepreneurs, and businesses to thrive.
In 2024, the Beacon Center traveled the state to listen to our fellow Tennesseans about the challenges they face. From our listening tour, we identified economic opportunity as one of the top policy issues facing Tennesseans.
Tennessee policymakers have passed two consecutive historic tax reforms to make our state more competitive with surrounding states. To build upon this success and make Tennessee the envy of every other state, Beacon has outlined what the state can do next. Our proposals include:
- Restoration of full expensing to allow companies to fully write off the cost of equipment (e.g., machinery purchased by a manufacturer) in the year they make the investment
- Pursuit of further business tax reforms
- Protecting independent contractors’ ability to earn a living and have access to portable benefits
- Adoption of a REINS Act to curb excessive government regulation
- Elimination of unnecessary licensing red tape
You can read more about expanding economic opportunity in our report, Tennessee Trends: The State of Tennessee’s Economy.
