WHAT WE’RE ABOUT
Promoting Individual Liberty & Functional Federalism in the Tennessee General Assembly
Our Mission
Our Mission
We build relationships with lawmakers and like-minded advocacy groups, craft government-limiting legislation, and advance the freedoms of Tennessee’s citizens. We lobby because it’s one of the most effective tools for making citizens’ voices heard by their government.
What We Do
What We Do
We are a conservatives policy organization working alongside the Tennessee General Assembly. We start by building strong relationships with legislators. Then we give them reliable, real-time information on bills, help them strategize alliances, and write legislation. They seek our advice because they know we are a steady, reasonable voice for freedom legislation.
Why It Matters
Why It Matters
We love Tennessee. It’s a place to build families, communities, businesses, and long-lasting institutions because it’s guarded by a respect for law & order and still prioritizes freedom and individual rights. Free Tennessee is just one initiative born out of a knowledge that our state is an island of freedom worth protecting and cultivating.
Focus Issues
Focus Issues
10th Amendment
Encouraging Tennessee’s State Government to be deliberate about exercising and retaining the powers reserved for them under the U.S. Constitution.
Medical Freedom
Expanding patient access to visitors, power of attorney access to medical records, and expanding healthcare choices to include valuable alternative forms of medical care.
Individual Liberty
Safeguarding the rights of Tennessee citizens from State or Federal encroachment.
Home Education
Preserving and expanding parental oversight and control of education both inside and outside the public school system.
Religious Liberty
Protecting the rights of conscience in workplaces and the public sphere. Maintaining the rights of churches to assemble without overreach of government.
Accountability & Transparency
Keeping our state government functional and lightweight requires continual efforts to require accountability and transparency.
Meet Our Policy Team
Our team combines energy and experience with a commitment to excellence in the policy space.
Kayla Garretson
LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR
Kayla is a former Legislative Assistant with the Tennessee General Assembly and registers eight years of legislative research and bill drafting experience. She has worked closely with members of the Tennessee General Assembly both before and since graduating from the Marketing Program at Cumberland University in 2020, planning events and providing policy support the while. Raised in beautiful Granville, Tennessee, she now resides in Nashville with her husband, Andy.
Madison Shelton
POLICY ADVOCATE
Madison is a senior at Lipscomb University majoring in Public Relations with minors in Law, Justice and Society, and New Media Journalism. An native of Jonesboro, Arkansas, she has made her home in the Nashville area over the past few years and in her spare time can be found exploring a National Park, trying a new restaurant, or befriending the nearest dog.
How We Got Started
As 2021 drew to a close, Free Tennessee was formed by five curious board members interested in filling a need in Tennessee’s conservative policy space. While deeply grateful for the work of the Beacon Center, AFP, ATR, NFIB, and others, they saw an opening for a flexible, reliable group free from the constraints of a national policy agenda and working from pre-existing relationships of trust with conservative legislators to provide them with supporting research, policy input, and tailored legislation based on their legislative goals and Tennessee’s current legal environment. And so, a 501(c)4 was born.
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