TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Dec 2, 2021

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office yesterday announced it will no longer grant exemptions to a new state law that abolishes all vaccine mandates, the Tennessean reports. State legislators passed a law banning all vaccine mandates during the COVID special session in October, but entities at risk of losing federal funding for not complying with federal vaccine requirements were allowed to apply for exemptions from the Comptroller’s Office. In a statement, the Comptroller’s Office said it “can no longer find that compliance with Public Chapter 6 would result in a loss of federal funding” after two federal judges issued preliminary injunctions blocking the federal vaccine mandate. Sixty nine exemptions that were granted to entities like the University of Tennessee System and Blue Cross Blue Shield are now suspended, but the Comptroller’s Office notes they could be reinstated if the injunctions are lifted.