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The Beacon Center of Tennessee applauds the House of Representatives for passing a full repeal of the state death tax today in a bipartisan vote. The bill, HB3760, will phase out the death tax, eliminating it entirely by 2016. “The death tax repeal is a tremendous victory for all Tennesseans,” said Justin Owen, Beacon’s president and CEO. “The repeal will alleviate the farmers and small business owners who are harmed by this tax, bring additional job opportunities to our citizens, and actually lead to an increase in tax revenue over time. It’s possibly the most important legislation proposed in the General Assembly this year.” Beacon has released a report and videos telling the stories of farmers who could lose their land without this repeal. More recently, Beacon published a study by Dr. Art Laffer analyzing the economic consequences of the tax. Numerous other groups have also worked to repeal this harmful tax. “We appreciates the tireless work of policymakers, led by Rep. Charles Sargent, for making the death tax repeal a top priority,” said Owen. “We now look forward to the Senate vote to send this to the governor.” Gov. Bill Halsam has expressed his full support of this legislation. It will next be heard in the Senate Finance Committee next week. The Beacon Center is Tennessee’s free market think tank. It’s mission is to change lives through policy policy by advancing solutions grounded in free markets, individual liberty, and limited government.