Barely a month after the Tennessee Legislature passed a COVID-19 omnibus bill cobbled together outside of public view, some lawmakers are ready to unwind it.
The legislation was aimed at fighting back against vaccination and mask mandates, most notably the federal vaccine mandate requirement for employers.
Much of the legislation has been nearly rendered moot by two federal court rulings that put a hold on President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate, followed by Comptroller Jason Mumpower’s move to suspend exemptions from the Tennessee COVID-19 law for federal contractors and those receiving federal grants or Medicare and Medicaid money.
That move ended protections for businesses, universities and hospitals that wanted to require vaccinations and masks for employees.
Legislators also are taking a look at a provision in the new law that prohibits the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners from disciplining doctors who give out bad information about COVID-19 or use unapproved treatments on patients who contract the disease. State Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, threatened to call the board before the Government Operations Committee if it didn’t remove a message from its website notifying physicians they could face disciplinary action.