Tennessee Democrats have asked Tennessee governor Bill Lee to veto Covid-19 legislation passed in a special session last week as it “intrudes on the rights of local governments,” threatens $2.5 billion in federal funding, and undermines public health.
Tennessee Republicans called last week’s special session that ended with key votes early Saturday morning. The “big bill” focused on Covid measures. It banned many (but not all) employers in Tennessee from requiring vaccines or masks. It guaranteed employees in the state unemployment benefits if they had been or will be fired or quit a job for not showing proof of a vaccine. The bill also stripped pandemic mandate powers from six health departments across the state, rolling much of those powers to Nashville.
In a letter issued, Tuesday afternoon, the state Joint Minority Caucus urged Lee to ”veto the most egregious anti-public health bills passed by Republicans in the most recent extraordinary session of the Tennessee General Assembly.”
“Governor, we should be a state that respects the role and authority of local governments and a state that promotes public health and protects the rights of those saving lives,” reads the letter. “In addition to undermining the health of our citizens, these extreme measures irresponsibly threaten the rights of voters, cities, counties, schools, and private organizations to sensibly govern themselves.”
Lee stayed mostly quiet during the special session. On Friday afternoon, he tweeted, “I commend members of the General Assembly for working to address the Biden Administration’s overreach into our state, our workforce, and our schools. We are evaluating each piece of legislation to ensure we push back on harmful federal policies and do right by Tennesseans.”
After that, Lee’s twitter gave no indication on how he’ll move on the measures. The feed only listed the schedules for upcoming budget hearings and had Lee beefing with the state of Florida’s Chief Financial Officer to win Kid Rock’s affection for an In-N-Out Burger location.
Democrats said the bill “intrudes on the rights” of local governments, school districts, private businesses, and nonprofits. The move marks “a substantial shift from historical precedent in Tennessee, where we have generally respected the ideal of limited government and enacted bipartisan solutions to promote public health.”
Further, Democrats said the bills “threaten the very existence of the [Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration TOSHA].” They said that, according to the legislature’s fiscal review director, the “legislation jeopardizes $2.5 billion of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan.”
The Democrats also asked Lee to veto other, non-Covid bills that would strip some prosecution powers from local district attorneys and make partisan local school board elections.
See the full letter below:
