Imagine showing up to a race planning to run a sprint, but instead you find hurdles standing along the track. That’s the scenario many Tennesseans find themselves in on a daily basis. They simply want to earn a decent living and provide for their family, but government barriers stand in their way.
At the Beacon Center, we identify those government barriers and work to eliminate them. As a result, we empower Tennesseans to reclaim and protect their freedoms, so that they can freely pursue their version of the American Dream.
By pushing for sound public policy at the state and local level, such as showcasing the benefits of repealing the death tax, empowering parents through school choice, advocating for healthcare freedom, and stopping job killing regulations dead in their tracks, the Beacon Center is truly changing the lives of Tennesseans.
The Beacon Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and independent organization dedicated to providing expert empirical research and timely free market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee. The Center was originally founded as the Tennessee Center for Policy Research in 2004 but became the Beacon Center in 2011. In addition to the name change, the rebrand signified a change in tone and tactics as the Beacon Center made a conscious decision to help solve the problems that impact real Tennesseans through bi-partisan collaboration. We take the words of the late, great Ronald Reagan to heart, "My 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy," and would even go as far to as to say that at the Beacon Center, our 5% friend is not out 95% enemy (ask the ACLU about that).
By putting policy over politics, we have successfully pushed for bold reforms in education, healthcare, economic regulation, and tax policy, among many others.
These reforms have:
- Helped Tennesseans like Roger Blackwood keep their farms in the family with a full repeal of the death tax;
- Empowered thousands of children just like Marshall Shanks of Memphis with educational freedom through school choice;
- Given terminally ill patients like Amanda Wilcox hope by protecting their right to try experimental medicine; and
- Preserved the right to earn a living for Martha Stowe, Laurie Wheeler, Tammy Pritchard, Adam Jackson, and countless others like them by removing occupational licensing red tape through strategic litigation and policy solutions.
At the Beacon Center, we are changing lives through public policy by advancing the principles of free markets, individual liberty, and limited government. By giving Tennesseans more control over their own lives—whether it's earning an honest living, making our own healthcare decisions, choosing where to send our kids to school, or keeping more of our hard-earned money—we can make Tennessee the freest, most prosperous state in the nation.
Want to help us preserve Tennesseans’ rights? Become part of our team by making a tax-deductible gift today.