RESEARCH

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

Other than “tax increase,” few terms rile up Americans more than “red tape.” READ MORE

The cost of higher education has been a topic of debate for decades, yet the discussion has never held more of a policy focus as it does now. On August 24, 2022, President Joe Biden announced canceling $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 a year, and up to $20,000 for... READ MORE

Conservative budgeting would allow state policymakers to implement more permanent tax cuts, providing relief in a time of rising prices and fostering further economic growth and prosperity. READ MORE

Today, after months of research and open records requests, the Beacon Center released a new report showing how local school districts in Tennessee are budgeting and spending federal COVID dollars through the ESSER program. Congress allocated over $4 billion in federal taxpayer money to Tennessee school districts to address the pandemic. The data suggests that Tennessee public schools have budgeted or spent millions... READ MORE

What are the requirements for occupational licenses in Tennessee, and are they becoming more or less onerous over time? READ MORE

In direct response to students and parents who felt they had no voice in public education, nearly half of all states created, expanded, or improved educational choice programs. READ MORE

While Tennessee is generally considered a more free-market-oriented state, one area it regulates more heavily is in occupational licensing, essentially a government permission slip to do a job. READ MORE

The Beacon Center is proud to release its “recipe book” themed Tennessee Pork Report, revealing hundreds of millions of dollars in government waste, fraud, and abuse. This year’s infamous Pork of the Year “winner” was Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). MNPS entered into an $18 million no-bid contract with Meharry Medical College Ventures which produced... READ MORE