Tennessee State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) said that Tennessee will not comply with any effort by the federal government to reinstate COVID-19 mask mandates.
As a reminder, we banned any governmental entity from imposing mask mandates as a condition for entry, services or employment.
Not happening in TN. https://t.co/1NNQ17mAO9— Rep. Jason Zachary (@JasonZacharyTN) September 5, 2023
According to Zachary, Tennessee has safeguards in place to prevent the government from imposing another mask mandate in the state.
“Tennesseans, reminder, in October of 21 we were the 2nd state in the nation to pass a comprehensive COVID protection bill. We banned government mask mandates, masks in schools, banned COVID vaccine mandates, banned businesses and schools from requiring vaccine passports, and prohibited the feds from commandeering any state resources to implement COVID measures. Not happening in Tennessee,” Zachary said.
In October of 2021, the Tennessee Legislature passed a 21-page omnibus COVID-19 bill, House Bill (HB) 9077 that prohibits government agencies from imposing a COVID-19 vaccination or mask mandate on private companies and prohibits companies from disciplining staff members who do not receive the vaccine or demanding that visitors or employees present proof of immunization.
Under the legislation, schools need to go through an intricate process to require masks and only on a school-by-school basis, not district-wide.
Additionally, the law makes persons who quit their jobs due to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement eligible for unemployment compensation.
Guidelines for quarantines are now solely up to the state’s health commissioner, and minors must have parental consent before receiving the vaccine.
In November 2021, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the COVID-19 legislation into law.
As the protections in the COVID-19 bill terminated on July 1st, 2023, Zachary passed a bill, HB 0002, earlier this year to make the protections permanent because he said that “We all knew they would try again.”
According to Zachary, Tennessean’s freedoms must be defended.
“Even in the face of a health crisis, freedom, individual liberty, and the unalienable rights granted to us by God must be defended, preserved, and protected,” Zachary said.
Zachary said that he promises to push back against any efforts by the federal government to implement COVID-19 restrictions.
“As I did in 2020/21, I promise to push back on ANY efforts to implement COVID restrictions. While the federal government, CDC, and blue states will try to run back COVID tyranny, by law, we will not participate in Tennessee,” Zachary said.
Zachary also championed the COVID Liability Business Protection Bill in 2020 which protects Tennessee businesses, schools, churches, and non-profits from frivolous COVID-related lawsuits.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Tennessee Star. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Perry – You took the words right out of my mouth. The RINO governor issued unconstitutional authority down to the local level where tinhorn politicians wanted to show off their newly granted (illegal) power.
Yes, Mr. Zachary, we remember Lee’s toothless COVID bills. We don’t need government to say that we won’t comply with mask mandates. We can SHOW it ourselves.
Who is going to protect the individual worker, Jason?? During the next pandemic, who will look out for them when some businesswhiner owner demands an in-person Mickey Mouse roll call of their employees, endangering everyone. Except leadership, of course, who will run for the hills first (that’s what happened at my company in 2020).
Nothing was done to reign in Lockdown Lee’s “executive order powers”. It wasn’t blue states declaring some Tennesseans “non-essential” and lecturing us about how we were being traced and not obeying his unconstitutional edicts. You left giant gaping holes in the legislation. Only protecting some Tennesseans from some entities. If medical autonomy is a right, then nobody – even your lefty corporate welfare recipients – has the power to force the Deathvax experiments on us. Because we know for damn sure nothing happened to the mass murderers Fauci, “no license” Birx, Ralph Baric, Peter Daszak, Bill Gates, horse doctor Bourla, warp speed Trump, Francis Collins, etc. The killers are still being paid.
What protects Tennesseans from Gov Bill Lee allowing tyrant city and county mayors from issuing unconstitutional mandates again? Our General Assembly failed to protect Tennessee from state level tyranny.