NASHVILLE – When Tennessee lawmakers head back to Nashville this week for another special session, the Republican supermajority hopes to fight back against a federal mandate that larger employers must require employee vaccination against COVID-19.
Other matters up for debate include proposals to intervene against school-mask mandates, an issue already being fought before three federal judges in Tennessee.
Also on the table: the authority of the state’s six independent county health boards and whether the COVID-19 vaccine should be administered to more mature minors without parent or guardian consent.
Another area in the special session call is the governor’s emergency powers. Some Republicans have been upset for well over a year by executive orders issued by Republican Gov. Bill Lee to deal with COVID-19, such as allowing county mayors to impose mask mandates.
Last week’s special session was called by Lee for lawmakers to approve the state’s nearly $900 million incentive-and-infrastructure package for a planned $5.6 billion Ford Motor Co. electric truck and battery complex in West Tennessee. But Lee evidently wanted no part of the COVID-19 special session and declined to call lawmakers back into session.