The Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee published results of a poll it conducted on Monday revealing how registered Tennessee voters feel about a number of legislative issues at both the state and federal levels.
The right-of-center think tank polled 1,200 registered voters in Tennessee from December 16, 2024, to December 27, 2024.
One of the issues the Beacon Center focused on was education in Tennessee, asking voters how “satisfied” they are with the K-12 public education in the state and how they view Governor Bill Lee’s proposal to create a universal school choice program in the state.
The poll shows that only 40 percent of Tennesseans are satisfied with the K-12 public education system in the state, while 54 percent are dissatisfied.
When it comes to universal school choice being offered in the state, 67 percent of voters said they support the governor’s proposal to create the program while just 13 percent oppose it.
Under the governor’s proposal, 20,000 Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) worth $7,075 would be available for Tennessee students in the 2025-2026 school year – 10,000 scholarships of which would be reserved for “students at or below 300 percent of income qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, have a disability, or are eligible for the existing ESA program.”
The current proposal would also create 5,000 additional scholarships with universal eligibility each year after 75 percent of total scholarships are taken in the prior year.
Another state-level legislative issue voters were polled on was statewide property taxes, as the poll asked if there should be a limit on how much property taxes can go up each year.
A total of 81 percent of voters said there should be a limit on how much property taxes can go up yearly, with voter approval needed for any increase beyond that limit.
In addition, 51 percent said they support implementing an outright cap on property tax increases, 20 percent said they support a combination of statewide regulation and local decision-making on property tax increases, and 17 percent said they support the “status quo” of allowing local officials to decide on property tax increases without state-imposed limitations.
At the federal level, the poll asked voters how they feel about President-elect Donald Trump’s creation of a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to help identify and cut wasteful government spending headed by billionaire Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
While 56 percent of Tennessee voters said they favor the new department, many remain unsure if it will work in practice.
The poll also revealed the anticipated “Pork of the Year” winner for 2024, which was narrowed down in December to three finalists named “Bluff City Blunder,” “‘Friends’ with Benefits,” and “NFL: Nashville Funding Losers.”
After reviewing the finalists for the biggest waste of taxpayer money in Tennessee throughout 2024, voters crowned “Bluff City Blunder” as Pork of the Year.
“Bluff City Blunder” is what the Beacon Center described as the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s (MATA) “waste” of tens of millions of tax dollars on Grizzlies suites, furniture, and an office in a downtown skyscraper instead of on transit. MATA’s spending comes as the service has been reportedly found to be running a $60 million deficit and experiencing a decline in ridership.
“While all three of the finalists deserved the Pork of the Year award, Tennessee voters agree that the way MATA ran an enormous deficit while spending money on luxury expenses that only benefited their board members was both distasteful and unethical, ignoring their duty to regard taxpayers’ interests,” Beacon Center spokesperson Mark Cunningham said in a statement.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
