As we near Independence Day and ring in America’s 250th anniversary, we have a great deal to be proud of as a nation. While we have our share of problems, our prosperity is due to—not in spite of—our commitment to our founding ideals.
One of those founding ideals is that we don’t consolidate power and decision-making in Washington, D.C. While our federal government certainly controls too much, the fact that we have 50 “laboratories of democracy” is one of the most enduring qualities of our nation. We could have never achieved what we have as our nation grew and became more diverse without this structure.
We at Beacon have the privilege of helping drive meaningful reforms in one of those 50 laboratories. Tennessee is the envy of many states because we, too, have embraced the principles of freedom upon which our nation was established.
As we celebrate America and those very principles, I thought it would be a good time to toast some of our own successes here in our state.
We’ve let Tennesseans keep their hard-earned money. Through numerous tax cuts and the outright elimination of entire taxes, we have returned approximately $5 billion to their pockets. That’s $5 billion more that they had to provide for their needs, care for their families, start businesses, invest in and grow our economy, etc.
We’ve made right-to-work constitutionally protected. No worker should ever be forced to join a union and pay dues against their will. That’s why Beacon advocated for giving voters the chance to enshrine our right-to-work law in our state constitution, recognizing how important it was for workers and our state’s economy. And voters agreed; they overwhelmingly passed Amendment 1 in 2022. The amendment garnered 70% of the vote and won in all 95 counties.
We’ve put parents in the driver’s seat. For generations, politicians and bureaucrats have called the shots when it comes to education. And they’ve failed generations of kids along the way. We believe that parents know best and should be the ones deciding what educational environment their child needs. That’s why we fiercely advocated for making every single family in the state eligible to choose their kid’s school. With more than 56,000 applicants for the new Education Freedom Scholarships Program, it’s clear that parents are ready to take the reins.
We’ve protected the ability to earn a living. While Tennessee is not known as a regulatory hotbed, some two million Tennesseans need some form of permission from government to work. We have made government licensing reform a top priority and became the first state in the nation to pass a Right to Earn a Living Act, limiting the negative impact of occupational licensing regulations and requiring the state legislature to frequently review the negative impact of this red tape. We’ve also helped repeal numerous licensing laws entirely, including for hair braiders, shampoo technicians (yes, you once needed a license for that), and locksmiths, among others.
This is but a few of the many changes that empower Tennesseans with more control over their lives. And each of these reforms—and the many like them—is grounded in the principles of freedom upon which our nation was founded.
As we celebrate America’s 250th, let’s also celebrate the state-led reforms that serve as a poignant example of why our nation is so great.