In the wake of an audit that found numerous problems with the state’s TNInvestco program, Beacon CEO Justin Owen explains to the Chattanooga Times Free Press why the program is bad for taxpayers and business. “As this audit shows, taxpayers’ money is handed out like candy with few safeguards...

Beacon CEO Justin Owen talks to TNReport.com about the House Democrats’ alternative budget proposal unveiled this week. While Owen criticizes their plan to spend excess revenue, he does support their call to further reduce taxes. Justin Owen, president of the free-market Beacon Center of Tennessee...

Visit Beacon’s YouTube channel to watch our newest video of David Mitchell, a farmer in Christiana who has spent his entire life on the farm his grandfather purchased. Due to the hard work of David’s family, they have quadrupled the farm’s size, and now that it is subject to the state...

March 7, 2012 NASHVILLE – The Beacon Center of Tennessee today released a publication telling the stories of two Tennessee farmers who could be harmed by the state’s onerous death tax. The publication, titled Splitting the Farm, shows how the death tax damages the state’s economy and could put...

NASHVILLE – The Beacon Center of Tennessee has teamed up with the Laffer Center for Supply-Side Economics to publish a recent analysis of Tennessee’s death and gift taxes by noted economist Arthur Laffer. The study, “The Economic Consequences of Tennessee’s Gift and Estate Tax,” was conducted...

After a recent report by the nonprofit Tax Foundation shows that Tennessee has the nation’s highest sales tax, Beacon CEO Justin Owen cautions against any efforts to move toward a different tax system. “While we would love to see all taxes lowered, the sales tax is a stable source of revenue...

NASHVILLE – The Beacon Center of Tennessee, the state’s free market think tank, today announced the results of its annual ranking of the state’s 50 most populous cities. Founded as the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, the Beacon Center analyzes cities’ friendliness to business each year...

In an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Beacon Center’s Justin Owen calls for a reduced sales tax burden by cutting wasteful government spending, but at the same time warns against attempts to replace the current sales tax with a state income tax. Beacon Center of Tennessee Executive...

As Republicans and Democrats squabble over what to do with excess revenues coming into the state’s coffers, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research offers an effective solution. “It’s not enough to rely on the whims of either political party to return excess revenue to taxpayers,” said Justin...