NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee’s governor on Monday stood by his decision to sign sprawling limits on COVID-19 restrictions into law, even though his own office warned the bill would violate federal disability law and put the state at risk of losing federal funds.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee, in his first public comments since The Associated Press revealed his legislative counsel’s email warning to lawmakers, said he thinks “the bill on balance is good.” He also repeated a promise for a broad review of the new law, which he previously acknowledged includes “some issues we need to work through.” But when asked directly, he would not say whether he thinks the law’s accommodations for people with disabilities – flagged last month by his office as violating federal law – need to be changed.
Instead, he said, “we have to determine first what really needs to be changed” before the next legislative session in January.
Before that, the state has to defend the law in court.
Attorneys representing children with disabilities, who have already convinced a federal judge to block the law’s restrictions on COVID-19 rules in schools for now, argued Monday that the email “conflicts with, and impeaches, the official position” of the state. They’re asking to enter it as evidence in their case.