NASHVILLE – As his fellow Republicans in the General Assembly continued filing bills in advance of Wednesday’s special session to battle local and federal COVID-19 mandates – including an attempt to prevent the use of vaccine “passports” – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee spent part of his Tuesday 140 miles away in Chattanooga.
“I’m not making recommendations to them,” said Lee, who earlier spurned requests from Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, the Republican Senate speaker, to call the legislature into the special session.
The speakers sought to have Lee call the special session addressing COVID-19 mandates imposed by local government, school boards and businesses, so the governor could frame the issues. Instead, lawmakers had to go through the rare process of calling themselves into session.
“I think I’ve been pretty clear about my focus and my effort,” said Lee, who attended the Chattanooga area leadership prayer breakfast. “We will push back against the federal mandates because I think they’re not good for our state, they’re not good for the people. But we’ll see what the legislature does.”
The governor’s avoidance in calling the special session himself – it was called when all House and Senate Republicans signed on to establish it – has left some legislative leaders quietly frustrated.