A legislative counsel to the govenor warned Tennessee lawmakers their bill limiting COVID-19 restrictions would violate federal law and put the state at risk of losing federal funds. According to records obtained by the Associated Press, Legislative Counsel Liz Alvey warned Senate Speaker Randy McNally’s chief of staff and a member of Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson’s office in an email on the night the bill was passed. “Proposed ADA accommodation in the bill is a violation of the ADA and will put us at risk of losing federal funding,” Alvey wrote. The bill was approved an hour later. It is not clear if Alvey relayed that advice to Gov. Bill Lee before he signed the bill into law less than two weeks later.

Gov. Bill Lee has announced he will allow the COVID-19 state of emergency to expire tonight after being active for nearly 20 months, the Tennessean reports. The status, which Lee activated on March 12, 2020, has allowed the state to utilize additional federal funding for its pandemic response. It also granted the governor authority to suspend state laws and regulations to battle COVID-19. Lee said today that he will “temporarily consider reinstating this tool” in the event of more COVID-19 “surges.”

Tennessee businesses are beginning to seek exemptions from the vaccine mandate ban passed by the state legislature in the COVID special session, WKRN reports. Under the new law, entities looking to maintain or implement a vaccine requirement must be granted permission from the comptroller’s office. More than 10 businesses have been approved so far, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, the University of Tennessee system, Vanderbilt University and Crockett County Ambulance Services. To qualify for an exemption, businesses must have received a federal contract, be a federal subcontractor or have a post-secondary education grant. According to reporting, state leaders are estimating up to 7,000 businesses or entities could apply for the exemption.

Shelby County is dropping its lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee over his executive order on mask mandates, Action News 5 reports. The county says the suit is no longer relevant now that the governor has signed new legislation that would ban masks in schools. That law is currently on a temporary hold by federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw. The governor’s executive order was blocked in Shelby County by federal Judge Sheryl H. Lipman after families in a separate suit filed against the order.

Lawsuits filed around the country challenging the Biden administration's workplace COVID-19 vaccine rule will be consolidated and heard by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, National Public Radio reports. That decision was the result of a random lottery conducted by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. More than 30 cases have been filed against the rule in all 12 circuit courts of appeal. It will now be up to the 6th Circuit to decide whether to lift a stay issued by the 5th Circuit. A three-judge panel of that court temporarily blocked the rule a day after it took effect, saying it posed "grave statutory and constitutional” issues. The court reaffirmed that decision last Friday calling the rule "fatally flawed." The Biden administration maintains it has emergency authority to protect workers facing "grave danger" on the job.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday reaffirmed its decision to block an order by President Joe Biden requiring companies with 100 or more workers to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing for their employees. In the 22-page opinion, the appeals court said the mandate issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is "fatally flawed," The Hill reports. It also prohibited the agency from enforcing the mandate pending review of a motion for permanent injunction. The ruling mirrors an earlier decision from Nov. 6.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw yesterday blocked a new law that would limit the ability of schools to enact mask mandates but set an expedited hearing on the issue for today, WPLN reports. At today’s hearing, Crenshaw declined to clarify whether his ruling applies only in the Middle District or statewide, causing confusion for several school districts, the Tennessean reports. He set the next hearing date for Friday. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law last Friday, enacting more stringent conditions for requiring face coverings among students and staff. Immediately after the bill’s signing, families from Knox, Williamson and Shelby counties filed a lawsuit asking the courts to halt the law to protect the health of their disabled or medically vulnerable children.

With news that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee would sign new legislation regulating school mask mandates, Shelby County yesterday asked a federal judge for an emergency ruling on how the new law will affect its mask requirement, the Commercial Appeal reports. Among its provisions, the recently passed legislation would prohibit public schools and governments from requiring masks unless local conditions reach a high level of COVID-19 cases. The county filed the motion yesterday with U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, who ruled in September that the governor’s executive order requiring school districts to give parents an opt-out of mask mandates violated federal disability law.

Gov. Bill Lee signed new pandemic restrictions into law today, but will seek changes in the next legislative session, the Tennessean reports. Among its many provisions, the bill limits when mask mandates can be applied in public schools, prevents businesses from mandating vaccines, and allows hospital visitation for COVID patients who are nearing the end of their lives. Lee says that the hospital provision needs to be clarified to make sure it reflects the intent of the General Assembly. Though lawmakers intended to limit the provision to patients near death, it was written to apply to all hospitalized patients. Other affected industries opposed to specific components of the bill did not push for a veto, instead turning their focus to making amendments to the legislation next year.

Gov. Bill Lee on Friday extended Tennessee's state of emergency for the coronavirus for two weeks, the Tennessean reports. Lee also extended an executive order that allows parents to opt their children out of mask regulations at schools, regardless of local restrictions. Lee said he extended the orders by two weeks while he analyzes the impact of a number of bills recently passed by the state legislature. The orders will now expire on Nov. 19.