April 27, 2021
Governor Bill Lee:
Good morning. Thanks for joining us for our briefing to address the next step in our COVID-19 response. We've entered a new season and we have significant tools at our disposal and it's time for government to get out of the business of public health interventions. COVID-19 is now a managed public health issue and our state's no longer a statewide public health crisis. And therefore, my last COVID-19 executive order will expire tomorrow. Remaining actions will be simply to address lingering economic and regulatory issues.
Governor Bill Lee:
Above all else, Tennesseans have embraced idea of personal responsibility and have allowed us to get in this state from a public health crisis to a managed a health issue.
Governor Bill Lee:
For the first time since COVID-19, vaccine has become a reality. It has been made available to everyone who wants it in every single county in this state. Everyone who has over the age of 16 in Tennessee has had access to vaccine for almost a month, many for more weeks than that. Anyone can get a vaccine today, no appointment necessary. I got a vaccine. It's safe. It's the most effective way to manage our health, and more Tennesseans are doing that every day.
Governor Bill Lee:
We've spent the last year putting in place infrastructure that allowed Tennesseans to get tested, to get a vaccine. We have made adjustments in our healthcare system to allow for the flexibility necessary for the ebbs and flows of this public health crisis and this particular virus.
Governor Bill Lee:
After more than a year of public-led health interventions, we're in our different season. It's time to shift our focus now more toward recovery and not restrictions. There are currently no state-mandated restrictions on businesses in 89 counties that the state has jurisdiction over, and there hasn't been for many months, but last year, during the height of the pandemic, we did provide the Tennessee pledge as a guide to give businesses direction about ways to operate safely. These guidelines will today be officially retired in order to send a clear message that Tennesseans now know how to manage their own day-to-day operations without a government playbook, even if it was a voluntary one.
Governor Bill Lee:
So whether it's capacity limits or temperature tracks or other burdens on operation, it's time for businesses to get back to serving their customers. It's time for celebrations and weddings and conventions and concerts and parades and proms, and everything in between to happen without limits on gathering sizes or other arbitrary restrictions for those events.
Governor Bill Lee:
And while I never instituted a statewide mask mandate in the state, we should address the remaining mask mandates that are in place at the local level. So effective tomorrow, no local governments in the 89 counties that fall under our jurisdiction will have the authority to issue a mask mandate.
Governor Bill Lee:
With regard to the other big six counties whose authority is independent, three of these counties have mask mandates and have some level of business restrictions. Each of these counties has been moving in the right direction, and I spoke with each one of these counties over the last day. Our office either reached out or I spoke personally to those mayors about my desire that by Memorial Day, all business restrictions, all mandates, mask mandates and limits would be lifted across this state.
Governor Bill Lee:
We believe that'll happen. Mayor Cooper I believe will be announcing today a lifting of restrictions in our city. We talked about his desire to lift a mask mandate at the appropriate time. So we think that will be happening in cities across our state. It's an opportunity for our state to truly be fully, in every way, unrestricted throughout our state.
Governor Bill Lee:
COVID-19 is part of public health and it's here to stay for the foreseeable future, but we have to learn to live with it just like we do any risk. And when there is an emergency or crisis, government should respond, and when that crisis diminishes, government should respond again and snap back, and now is the time for that.
Governor Bill Lee:
This is about trusting Tennesseans, using the tools that we have at our disposal to get out of the way and out of the business of crisis management and back to the business of life. Tennessee is moving forward thanks to her people.
Governor Bill Lee:
I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Jonathan?
Jonathan:
Governor, as you're moving to sort of eliminate, I guess does this eliminate the state of emergency as well for [inaudible]?
Governor Bill Lee:
Actually, the state of emergency stays in place for purposes of deregulatory issues that are still necessary from a healthcare standpoint and from a federal funding standpoint that necessitates that state of emergency. It's a limited state of emergency.
Jonathan:
Okay. And in rural areas, and Dr. Pearson said some rural conservatives, they're hesitant to get the vaccine. What do you have in mind to try to convince those folks to get on board? Because if people aren't getting vaccinated out there, the spread can still happening and would be happening at a potentially greater level [inaudible].
Governor Bill Lee:
So what's most important is that we give Tennesseans the opportunity and the access to do that. Our Department of Health is working very hard to provide mobile clinics to increase opportunities and places that folks can get vaccine, particularly in our rural communities, well, actually, in every community. So we're targeting populations that have low uptake, and continuing to see people get vaccinated, but continuing to push for Tennesseans to consider that in every part of the state.
Speaker 1:
Governor, [inaudible] a month ago that you all were ready to intensify the marketing campaign to encourage more people to get the vaccine, much like you did with wearing a mask. What's the latest on that? When can we expect that [crosstalk]?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, we've discussed that in our unified command group meetings and there's a clear path for that over the next several months. It will be starting soon. I don't have the exact date of that, but that campaign is being developed right now in a desire to get it rolling soon. But I don't know the dates of that way. We can talk to the Department of health and confirm that. Gerald?
Gerald:
We talked about rural Tennessee, but healthcare is also [inaudible] some vaccine hesitancy among African Americans and comminutes of color. The question is [inaudible] we're still not seeing anything measurable [inaudible] you say that the vaccine is part of the way that we help protect against corona.
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah. So again, I don't know the exact date of the rollout, but we are developing a marketing plan, and in fact, the federal government is as well. And I've been in contact with Jeff Zients and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to talk about the particulars of how we message effectively and my admonition to them about messaging in different states in different ways. So this is all part of what we'll be doing in the future.
Governor Bill Lee:
But you also talked about hesitancy among African Americans, and our Office of Minority Health and Disparities Elimination continues to provide research, opportunity, communication, to provide access in a greater way to minority communities and ethnic communities across the state. I'm very proud of the work that they're doing and their continued effort to make sure that that population, like all of our population, understands how important it is that folks get vaccinated so we can move forward.
Governor Bill Lee:
Yes, sir?
Speaker 2:
On the vaccine front, I'd like to follow-up, Governor. Do you believe that you should be required to receive it [inaudible]?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, I don't think we should be mandating vaccines that have only been approved as an emergency authorization. And I generally don't think mandating vaccines is a good idea in the first place. And I've said pretty clearly I don't want vaccine mandates, vaccine passports. This needs to be a personal choice for people, and we should keep it that way.
Governor Bill Lee:
You have a question?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, thank you for asking. In Memphis, you said that you would support the bill to require teachers to warn parents if LGBT [inaudible] was mentioned. Would you support something like that if it required Jews to be mentioned or Black people to be mentioned? Do you see the moral issue here?
Governor Bill Lee:
What I see is that parents should have the last word about what their children learn in our public schools. Parents should decide, not the government, what their individual children should learn. And it's a parental choice educational bill and that's the reason I'm supporting it. Yes?
Speaker 3:
Hi, Governor. So you just said the government [inaudible], that the issue was public health, but there is a bill that's probably gaining momentum and it's probably waiting for a House [inaudible]. It would basically prohibit a gender affirming form of treatment for minors. So I was wondering if you would like to support that bill following [inaudible]?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah. So that bill, like a lot of bills, as you say, hasn't passed yet. And as you know, the processes that these bills are amended, they change, they get through committee or not. And I don't read all the language of all 3,200 bills until they're actually closer to my desk. And I can comment on that when it's passed in as closer to my desk.
Speaker 3:
So far you have supported a series of bills that activists would say are [inaudible] children. They're just kind of the bills [inaudible] focus on. And it is very important to your [inaudible]. So I was wondering if you could apply the same philosophy that the government has in a role that's on health when it comes to [crosstalk].
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah. So every bill is different, and I would apply the philosophy to each bill when I have an opportunity to read that particular bill in its final form and it's passed through committees. And we're not there yet with that. Yes, sir?
Speaker 4:
Governor, two questions if I may. The first one has to do with the ECD cards and the rollout. [inaudible] heard some complaints [inaudible]. What's being done to make sure that that's a smoother process?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah. So first of all, it's really important that that process work because these cards are the opportunity for low-income children to access food. It's very important that we get that process right.
Governor Bill Lee:
I actually met with Commissioner Carter two days ago. We talked in particular about this process and how it is that we can streamline it and make it better, make sure that kids get them. We have taken a number of different approaches to make sure kids get them, also eliminate fraud, make sure we don't send cards out to addresses that no longer are applicable.
Governor Bill Lee:
The primary strategy is to utilize schools. And we are working with our schools. We are advocating to our schools. We are encouraging our school districts to engage. Some of them have been incredible partners. Some have been slow to adapt, but if our school districts will partner with us in identifying the location of these kids and a strategy for getting those cards to them, then we believe that'll be the best way forward, but we see it as a priority and we're working on it.
Speaker 4:
The second question is, are you still [inaudible] with Mayor Cooper? I took for your [crosstalk]
Governor Bill Lee:
Right.
Speaker 4:
You guys haven't always seen eye-to-eye in terms of this pandemic or the school system, and I know you've had some choice words in the past. I take it things are a little smoother now between you and Mayor Cooper?
Governor Bill Lee:
Mayor Cooper and I talk on a regular basis about a number of issues. We've done recruitment trips together for ECD. We talk about issues. And that's right, we don't always agree, but certainly we understand that just because you don't agree with someone, doesn't mean you can't work together. That's a principle that I think has somewhat been lost in our country, but I hope it's not lost in Tennessee, and it's certainly not in my relationship with and working together with our municipal mayors.
Wayne:
Governor, earlier on in this pandemic, you spent several billion dollars of state resources on advertising to encourage people to wear masks. Why haven't you acted quite as quickly in terms of the messaging about shots and spending money. I mean [crosstalk]
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, I think I've been asked about that twice, and the answer is that we are developing a serious campaign to encourage people to get vaccine and I don't know the particular date that we roll that out. But it's very important to us.
Wayne:
But Governor, [crosstalk] before, you were so quick before on the mask mandate, why this is weeks and weeks [crosstalk]
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, because right now is when the hesitancy, Wayne, begins the most, and it's the most important time to begin to remind folks that getting a vaccine really matters. And now that everyone has access all across the state and everyone's had an opportunity, now you start reaching out to the people who have been hesitant.
Wayne:
And if I could ask, when did you get your second shot and why not make a public display of that in order to reassure some of these people that these are safe medications?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, I got my second shot last Saturday or Friday, 10 days ago maybe? That's right.
Wayne:
But why so private?
Governor Bill Lee:
It's public decision, personal private health decision, and that's what I did and that's how I made it.
Wayne:
Bur you're the Governor of the state-
Governor Bill Lee:
That's right.
Wayne:
[inaudible]
Governor Bill Lee:
And it's a personal private decision and that's how I did it. Yes, sir? Kyle?
Kyle:
You may have said something about this, but you talked to Mayor Cooper about the mask mandates and what you're trying to do here with [inaudible]. What did he say about that? [inaudible]
Governor Bill Lee:
Oh, he and I talked about what I wanted to happen across the state, what I was going to announce. I wanted to let him know what I'd be talking about. He indicated to me that he felt the same way about lifting restrictions, that he would be making an announcement soon, which he did, or which he is going to apparently in the next several hours. He also indicated that he wanted to lift a mask mandate at the right time, and so I'm expecting he'll do that as well in his timing. I told him I was hopeful that all of these would be done by the end of May.
Kyle:
And similar conversations with mayors in the other major towns?
Governor Bill Lee:
That's right. That's exactly right, similar conversations with mayors in other town. I spoke personally to the Shelby County Mayor. My office reached out to the other four county mayors.
Kyle:
Okay. A question on a different topic now. The unemployment bills that are going through-
Governor Bill Lee:
The what bills? I'm sorry.
Kyle:
The unemployment bills that would reduce the amount of time. Do you support those? Can you [inaudible]?
Governor Bill Lee:
Again, I want to look at the final language, but here's what I think about unemployment. We have I think 275,000 open jobs in this state, and we have 150,000, 160,000 people on unemployment. We need to do something to move people from unemployment to employment. We need to encourage and incentivize a movement in the right direction.
Governor Bill Lee:
I think this bill does that. It provides more unemployment for a shorter period of time, which would help folks, but encourage them to pursue one of those 250,000 jobs that are open across the state.
Governor Bill Lee:
Again, I think the final language of that bill is not fully determined, but in concept, I do support it, yes.
Kyle:
[inaudible] one more question just in regards to that. There's a lot of people who work on traveling music tours here in Nashville and I think a lot of the jobs that are out there don't really play to their strengths. What do you want to say to some of the people like that, that just don't [inaudible].
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, I mean, this is generalizations, right? So we have hundreds of thousands of jobs out there, we just need to figure out a way to appropriately connected the ones. And unemployment is there for those who need it, but we just need to make sure that that system works to benefit folks in moving them into employment. And I think most folks would rather be in employment than they would in unemployment, but we need to incentivize that. Sam?
Sam:
Yeah. There have been some bills this year relating to the judiciary, the bill of [inaudible]. Now the House and Senate have approved the statewide chancery type court and the House last night passed a bill that would basically allow every constitutional question to take effect, regardless of what the chancellor here in [inaudible] County says until it gets to the Supreme Court. Did you sense a mood here to kill an independent judiciary? And do you support that type of movement?
Governor Bill Lee:
I think what is of concern across the country and including in Tennessee are activist judges who actually are trying to legislate from the bench. And I think that's the move that we're seeing here, is a desire to in fact have a independent judiciary that is not an activist judiciary. I think that would be my characterization of what's happening with these bills. So I'm not sure which ones are going to get through, but that's what's happening.
Sam:
So do you feel like the judges or the chancellors who made those decisions were legislating from the bench?
Governor Bill Lee:
Well, you'd have to ask me about specific decisions and specific judges. You asked me about specifically what I thought why these bills are being passed in response to what, that's what I think they're in response to.
Sam:
[crosstalk] decisions?
Governor Bill Lee:
Which decisions? She makes decisions all the time. I answered your question about broadly where we were going, and I think that's what's happening. Steven, you have a question?
Speaker 5:
This is the last question by the way. I think we have to [inaudible]. Steven?
Steven:
Yeah. You said you wanted to pivot the state's role from responding to this disease to responding to the economic fallout. What will or does that look like?
Governor Bill Lee:
Could you repeat the question?
Steven:
Yeah. You said you wanted to pivot the state's role from responding to the disease to responding to the economic situation. What does that look like?
Governor Bill Lee:
So we want to respond to the virus, we just need to do so as a managed health situation through the Department of Health. COVID-19 is here and it will be with us, and so we will respond to it from a public health standpoint. We're going to continue to do that, we just won't respond to it as if it were a public health crisis.
Governor Bill Lee:
And one of the ways you do that is by lifting all restrictions on businesses so that they can operate fully and that the economy can be fully recharged and restarted. That's a response to economics instead of a response to a public health crisis. But we also are utilizing our economic recovery group to work with businesses across the state and business groups across the state to see how it is that we can strengthen our economy, working with the businesses in Nashville, the industries in Nashville, the bureaus in Nashville that work with conventions to determine ways that we can incentivize, whether it's through advertising, Department of Tourism, the economic and community development, how we can focus on economic recovery in our state and shift our focus away from health crisis and let it simply be a health management issue.
Speaker 5:
Great. Thanks [crosstalk].
Governor Bill Lee:
Thank you all very much.
Speaker 6:
Sir, are you open at all to...
Governor Bill Lee:
Senate reviewed, and they too are in that same process of... I'm not sure what [crosstalk]
Speaker 6:
Generally speaking?
Governor Bill Lee:
Generally speaking, I've been opposed to medical cannabis and still am.