The Beacon Center of Tennessee, formerly the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, is a non-profit free-market think tank based in Nashville, Tennessee. The organization's stated mission is to "empower Tennesseans to reclaim control of their lives, so that they can freely pursue their version of the American Dream." The Center's research areas include tax and economic policy, education policy, and healthcare policy. The organization is a member of the State Policy Network. In 2007 TCPR issued a report asserting that Al Gore's residence in Belle Meade, Tennessee, used more than 20 times the energy of a typical home in the United States. It supported the repeal of Tennessee's estate tax and has advocated for tort reform and school choice and against civil forfeiture.
History and overview
TCPR was founded in 2004 by Drew Johnson. Johnson left TCPR at the end of 2009. Justin Owen became president in August 2010. TCPR estimated that its 2008 income would total about $400,000 for the year, roughly double its previous year's finances. The increase from 2007 to 2008 was attributed to publicity from its 2007 report on Al Gore's energy use. The organization received $481,000 in donations in 2012, with contributions totaling $1.2 million in 2013. The Beacon Center receives 54 percent of its funding from foundations, 43 percent from individual donors, 1.5 percent from corporate donations and 1.5 percent from other sources. In September 2011, the organization announced that it had changed its name to "Beacon Center of Tennessee." In a message to supporters, president Justin Owen indicated that the new name would represent the organization's new mission, "to light the way for freedom and prosperity" in the state. The Beacon Center is a member of the State Policy Network, a U.S. network of state-specific free-market oriented think tanks. SPN provides funding, training and other support for its member groups.
Activities and positions
The Beacon Center publicizes its views through publications, press releases, media interviews, and guest columns. Its publications include the annual "Tennessee Pork Report" and a Legislators’ Guide to the Issues.
Fiscal issues
Beacon supports reductions in state government spending and the elimination or reduction of several Tennessee state taxes. The organization supports an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution to ban a state income tax in order to "quash...attempts to pass such a tax once and for all." In 2014, Tennessee citizens voted for a constitutional amendment to ban a state income tax. In 2012, the Beacon Center was involved in repealing Tennessee's estate tax. Beacon has advocated reducing or eliminating Tennessee's sales taxes on groceries, cigarettes, and gasoline. In 2011, Beacon opposed a proposal to extend unemployment insurance benefits from a maximum of 79 weeks to a maximum of 99 weeks. The Beacon Center and the Tennessee branch of the American Civil Liberties Union have worked together to try to end civil forfeiture in Tennessee.
In 2008, the organization accounted for 16 percent of all open records requests to the Tennessee executive branch. On one occasion, TCPR sued the state Department of Finance and Administration over delayed response to an open records request. In 2008, state officials responded to a TCPR open-records request for email messages from the Tennessee Department of Revenue by telling TCPR that it would have to pay $3,201 for each day of email messages it sought.
Environment
TCPR operated a website entitled "Carnival of Climate Change" which was skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change. TCPR was one of the most significant organizations and individuals spreading climate disinformation, according to a 2009 report in Mother Jones magazine.
Report on Al Gore's house
In 2007 TCPR issued a report asserting that Al Gore's residence in the Nashville area used more than 20 times the energy of a typical home in the United States. Reporters who followed up on the allegations found that Gore's house did use more electricity than a typical home, but they also found that it was about 12 times the average for Nashville, pointed out that the building functioned both as a residence and a business office for both Al and Tipper Gore, it was much larger than a typical home, and that Gore made substantial improvements to the home during 2007 that reduced its electricity consumption. Drew Johnson, TCPR's president at that time, later said that the widespread attention to its report resulted in TCPR's receiving death threats.
