On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the 114th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned sine die. From efforts to regulate data centers and pharmacy benefit managers, to a framework for state takeover of Tennessee’s lowest-performing school districts, legislators saw their fair share of robust policy debates this year.
Amid the squabble and strife, there were major policy changes – both good and bad – that carry lasting implications for the freedom movement in Tennessee. Here is a look at the outcome of the legislation advanced by our advocacy partner, Beacon Impact, during the 2026 legislative session.
Expanded education freedom: The Education Freedom Scholarships program, signed into law last year, provided 20,000 Tennessee students with a choice in their education, but demand has far outpaced the number of available scholarships. In response, this year the General Assembly passed a 15,000-seat expansion, nearly doubling the program for the upcoming 2026-27 school year. Despite this victory, thousands of families remain on the waitlist, and more work is needed to ensure every student can access an education that best meets their unique needs.
ESA expansion: School choice wins continued with a bill allowing schools participating in the Education Savings Account (ESA) program to choose between the public school TCAP or a norm-referenced test. While the original ESA law required participating schools to administer the TCAP, this requirement ignored curricular differences, pushed private schools to conform to public school standards, and ultimately, compromised the very choice the program was designed to provide students and families. With this increased flexibility, ESA students can better demonstrate their academic progress, and more private schools will participate in the program.
Federal tax credit scholarship: Legislators also moved this session to codify Tennessee’s participation in the Federal Tax Credit Scholarship program adopted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Once implemented beginning in 2027, this program will allow taxpayers to receive a tax credit up to $1,700 annually for contributions that fund scholarships and other educational expenses for low-income students, further expanding access to quality educational opportunities across the state.
REIN-ing in the administrative state – The General Assembly passed one of the strongest REINS-style acts in the nation. The Regulatory Freedom Act now gives the legislature the final say in any regulations that have an estimated fiscal impact of $1 million or more over five years. Previously, unelected bureaucrats at state agencies could promulgate new rules or regulations with serious economic impact on Tennessee’s regulated industries with little or no legislative oversight. This act increases transparency in executive rulemaking and returns power to elected representatives who must answer to Tennessee voters.
Expanding access to healthcare: In a major win for healthcare access and affordability, the General Assembly voted to repeal key parts of the certificate of need (CON) regulations in the state. For decades, CON has artificially restricted healthcare access while increasing prices by requiring government permission to open a new acute care hospital or catheterization facility. In addition, established hospitals were able to advocate for denials in direct opposition to the free market and competition from new healthcare providers. These reforms to the state’s CON law will allow more competition and expanded access across the state, resulting in better and more affordable healthcare options for Tennesseans.
Close, but no cigar: In a blow to freedom, some legislative priorities Beacon Impact pursued failed to make it across the finish line. These include:
Efforts to cap local property taxes: Despite passing a key House committee in the wake of massive media coverage and grassroots anger, lawmakers were unable to agree on a property tax cap to protect Tennessee taxpayers from massive local tax hikes. Though 46 other states have some form of property tax cap without sacrificing local governments’ abilities to provide core services, Tennessee’s local governments and their taxpayer-funded lobbyists opposed efforts to institute a common-sense cap and were able to derail this much-needed legislation. Beacon will continue to fight for a reasonable cap on local property taxes so Tennesseans are not dealt with unending double and triple-digit increases in property tax rates.
Transparency for taxpayer-funded lobbying: Speaking of local governments hiring lobbyists to fight against Tennesseans economic interests, a bill to require local government to play by the same lobbyist disclosure rules as private entities also failed to become law. Lobbyists hired by private entities are required to report to the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance how much money they spend on private lobbying. Yet, local governments are excluded from these requirements in law, meaning they can hire private lobbyists – often to fight legislation in the best interests of the very taxpayers who fund them – without publicly reporting the amount of taxpayer dollars they are spending. A simple transparency bill should have been an easy win, but taxpayer-funded lobbyists seemed to disagree that transparency is needed.
Protecting private property rights: Property rights are a fundamental pillar of American freedom. One would expect a state like Tennessee, where conservative values reign, to do all it can to ensure that when Tennesseans purchase property, their rights remain. Unfortunately, a legislative proposal to better enshrine property rights faltered. The Tennessee Private Property Vesting Rights Act would have ensured that local governments could not devalue a landowner’s property through regulation without exempting them from the new regulation or providing them just compensation. Despite passing through several key early committees, the bill failed to progress, largely due to fear-mongering and pushback from local officials afraid to give up power to taxpaying Tennesseans.
The 2026 legislative session saw monumental wins for freedom in Tennessee, yet there is still work to be done for the upcoming 115th General Assembly to ensure every student receives the best education, residents are not met with massive tax hikes, and transparency comes to taxpayer-funded lobbying.
