As the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading and cases of Delta are beginning to rise again in Tennessee, Republican Governor Bill Lee has banned mask and vaccine mandates while providing a safety net for workers who quit their jobs to avoid employer vaccination requirements. After the deadly back-to-school surge which killed 120,000 Americans from late-August to mid-October, Tennesseans are about to enter the winter holiday season grievously under-protected against the latest wave of the pandemic.
This latest legislation is the product of fascistic elements in the Republican-dominated State Legislature who knowingly passed a bill that flagrantly defies federal law in the name of “states’ rights” and “individual freedoms.” Despite admonitions from major multinational companies and business groups to rethink the bill, Lee signed it into law on November 12.
Ford Motor Company, which benefited from the passage of the law—which includes a $9 million package to assist the building of an electric vehicle facility in Tennessee—was among the capitalist interests that lobbied lawmakers to walk back the restrictions on mask and vaccination mandates. Legislators reversed themselves at the last minute to allow private businesses to mandate masks and proof of vaccination, no doubt because of Ford’s $5.6 billion investment in the state.
Despite the governor’s own aides warning legislators an hour before voting that the bill violates federal law, the legislation...
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