RESEARCH

This marks the 14th year of the Beacon Center’s Pork Report, our annual report exposing government waste, fraud, and abuse. While the Pork Report is a fun and creative outlet for our team to expose the top 25 most ridiculous instances of government spending in the past year, it is also a call to action... READ MORE

While there is no one silver bullet to improve opportunities in rural communities, this package of policy solutions is a great start to making rural communities stronger and more competitive. READ MORE

Reform of public benefit systems is a perennial topic, but often seems too big to tackle. Before we can successfully reform public benefits in Tennessee, we need to better understand who is currently receiving support in our state and more importantly, why. What changes can be made to remove barriers for Tennesseans to successfully transition... READ MORE

The American criminal justice system rests on the familiar canon that everyone is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In Tennessee, absent a first-degree murder charge, every defendant has a constitutional right to bail. This is set forth in Article I, Section 15 of the Tennessee Constitution, which provides “[t]hat all prisoners shall... READ MORE

Today, the Beacon Center of Tennessee released a new report on the state of Tennessee’s economic incentive programs and exposed major issues with many of the subsidies. Below are some of the findings discovered by the Beacon Center: Many companies that receive taxpayer money are not required to hire the number of workers promised. In fact, all 25 FastTrack agreements reviewed... READ MORE

Every child is unique, and allowing parents to customize the education best tailored for their child not only benefits that child but society as a whole. READ MORE

This brief shows that, despite calls from some for more education spending, our current priorities are completely out of line. READ MORE

On the eve of the series finale of the show Nashville, which has been canceled twice in three years and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, the Beacon Center released a new report showing the ineffectiveness of film incentives in Tennessee. READ MORE

Today, the Beacon Center of Tennessee released its long-awaited alternate transit plan for Nashville. READ MORE

Currently, prisons and probation departments are funded by headcount, creating a perverse incentive to keep as many people in the system as possible. Restructuring funding based upon outcomes would reverse this incentive. READ MORE

This update addresses the problems with the juvenile justice system in the state of Tennessee and offers reasonable and helpful solutions. READ MORE

We can either eliminate barriers that keep them from becoming productive, taxpaying citizens, or we can leave those barriers up and risk them turning back to a life of crime. READ MORE