A member of the Tennessee General Assembly Tuesday filed a bill that would criminalize COVID-19 mandates in the state, saying that he doesn’t think Tennessee has done enough to combat such mandates.
“I don’t feel that the legislature went far enough during October’s special legislative session on this issue. This is about protecting an individual’s freedom to make their own medical decisions and the freedom of parents to make healthcare decisions for their children,” State Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) in a press release. “Those individuals who want to get vaccinated should be able to do so. However, those individuals, who have concerns about the vaccine, should not have to live in fear that they may lose their jobs or their children may not be able to attend school or they may not be able to enter a business to purchase groceries if they don’t get vaccinated.”
HB 2311 is headed to the Business & Utilities Subcommittee. Its sister bill in the state Senate, SB 2025, is sponsored by State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald). That bill is headed for second consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee
The bill reads:
As introduced [SB 2025] creates an offense of requiring another to receive a COVID-19 vaccination or provide proof of vaccination as condition of employment or in order to enter any building, facility, or property that is generally open to the public; permits such a requirement as a condition of entry into a hospital or other healthcare facility that is being used for treatment of a person at high risk of death from exposure to a communicable disease.
“Liberty is one of the 3 innate rights given to us by God, our Father and Creator, and it is set forth in the Declaration of Independence. Tennessee law should reflect the value of liberty, and everyone should respect the right to live in freedom,” Griffey said in his press release.
Griffey’s office did not return a comment request.
The Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) referred The Tennessee Star to Chairman Hendrell Remus for comment, but Remus could not be reached.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bruce Griffey” by Tennessee General Assembly.
