NASHVILLE – Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and his entire Republican Caucus on Wednesday asked Gov. Bill Lee in a letter to call a special COVID-19 session to block what they charged is school and other local officials’ “overreach” by requiring students or business patrons to wear masks.
The letter states lawmakers should convene to “address misdirected and mandated responses to COVID-19 by local entities and officials. It is of the utmost urgency to move quickly due to the potential of significant harm to Tennesseans.”
Lee spokeswoman Casey Black said, “We are currently reviewing the request.”
Sexton earlier this week telegraphed his plan to seek a special session, charging that school boards in Nashville and Memphis as well as the Shelby County Health Department had overstepped their authority with mask mandates.
Lee demurred at the time, saying locally elected school boards can make such decisions but also noting that “nothing’s off the table.”