Gov. Bill Lee said Friday he agrees with the Tennessee Comptroller’s decision to suspend exemptions from the state’s new COVID-19 law in spite of concerns raised by the business community.
The law prevents Tennessee employers from requiring vaccines for employees – regardless of a federal mandate – with certain exemptions allowed for employers who rely on federal funding.
Lee said he doesn’t believe any confusion exists for Tennessee’s companies because courts are holding the federal mandate in abeyance pending litigation, so no vaccine mandate is in effect.
“The mandates have been temporarily shut down by court order, and I’ve said all along I think the mandate is a terrible idea. Vaccines are the most powerful tool we have to fight the pandemic, but a vaccine mandate is counterproductive, and it shouldn’t be happening and the courts agree, and they’re stopping these mandates all across the country, so it makes no sense really for the comptroller to continue an exemption process for a mandate that has been temporarily halted in our state. So I think he made the right decision,” Lee said Friday morning after a Christmas breakfast to recognize Tennessee Highway Patrol officers.
Two orders this week from U.S. District Court judges in Kentucky and Louisiana halted President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as health care providers that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds.