With Blue Oval City on the horizon, it is more important than ever for local policymakers to review and reform outdated and arbitrary zoning laws. READ MORE
In the coming months, county commissioners will be taking up school board budgets. These discussions and votes are an annual occurrence, though this year’s discussion may have a different tone than years past. Billions of federal relief dollars are set to expire in September 2024 coupled with the state witnessing declining enrollments and increased staff,... READ MORE
Beacon’s newest report, “A Dose of Free Market Medicine” compares Tennessee’s laws and regulations around pharmacists and compares it to recent reforms in other states such as Florida, Iowa, Kansas, and most notably Idaho. READ MORE
Over the past few years, educational choice programs that allow students to use a portion of their education dollars to attend schools that best fit their needs have experienced sweeping changes. By 2023, dozens of states had educational choice programs and ten states enacted universal or near-universal universal choice legislation, affording educational options to every... READ MORE
Have you ever put on a jacket or pair of pants and found a $20 bill in the pocket? Or got to the end of the month and realized you have more money left than you thought? It’s a great feeling isn’t it? You feel like you have the freedom to go and spend it... READ MORE
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Bigger Pockets and Balanced Budgets: Passing A Conservative Budget for Tennessee in 2024
BY RON SHULTIS
For at least a decade before the pandemic, Tennessee leaders have practiced conservative budgeting, keeping increases in state spending below population growth plus inflation. This saved Tennessee taxpayers billions of dollars, allowing for further pro-growth tax cuts. As the state is finally spending the last of its federal relief funds, it is more important than... READ MORE
To explore our interactive zoning map of Middle Tennessee, click here. It seems not a day goes by without another news story showcasing how housing is becoming unaffordable, especially in Tennessee. And it’s not surprising. In 2020, Tennessee became the number one state for in-migration for the first time, according to U-Haul.1 Ever since, the... READ MORE
It is absolutely imperative that parents have options for their children when it comes to public education and this report shows the benefits of charter schools in Tennessee and across the country. READ MORE
Over the past 10 months, the Beacon Center has traveled the state to listen to our fellow Tennesseans about the challenges they face. This blueprint for restoring Tennesseans’ freedoms is a direct result of that listening tour. The listening tour was comprised of multiple components, including numerous and diverse community visioning panels, focus groups, and... READ MORE
Healthcare can be expensive and complex. But Tennessee’s rules and restrictions are making it worse, often for those who can least afford care. Adopted in the 1970s, certificate-of-need (CON) laws require a government permission slip before providing most healthcare services, such as opening a new hospital or purchasing high-tech medical equipment. Imagine if every new... READ MORE
An Economic Development Roadmap from the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Council of the Beacon Center of Tennessee READ MORE
Today, the Beacon Center released its most famous annual publication, the Pork Report. As always the report shed light on hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending in Tennessee. Examples in this year’s report range from the state’s no-bid contract for contact tracing given to a company with no previous experience to the unused homeless pods the city of... READ MORE