Tennessee businesses begin lining up for special permission to mandate vaccines

A new state law signed Friday is meant to ban Tennessee companies from requiring COVID vaccinations. But businesses are already starting to ask for exceptions that will let them keep mandating vaccines.

They’ll need explicit permission to do so. As of early Monday afternoon, 10 companies had already filed on a website set up by the Tennessee Office of the Comptroller.

The state believes 1,000 companies or more may want to require vaccinations, and that includes some government agencies. The new state law, House Bill 9077/Senate Bill 9014, created a loophole to prevent anyone from losing money from the federal government. That includes contractors working on federal grants, or a subcontractor.

Those who are approved will be posted publicly on another new website.

“We recognize that folks that are in Tennessee would like to know which entities have actually received an exemption,” says comptroller spokesman John Dunn. “So we’re working on a special web page that will actually list out which entities in Tennessee have received that exemption from our office.”

A team of contract experts will review each request, Dunn says. But Comptroller Jason Mumpower will have the final say since some of the requests could be judgment calls. Even companies that are vying for federal contracts are allowed to make their case, though their exemptions will be “contingent” on winning the contract.

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, which contracts with the federal government, was among the first to start the process. The state’s largest health insurer stated its intentions shortly after the special session where the new ban on vaccine mandates passed.

“We are respectful of the State of Tennessee’s authority on vaccine requirements and appreciate they have allowed exceptions for federal contractors like BlueCross,” spokesman John Hawbaker says in an email Monday. “We’ve notified the state comptroller’s office of our intent to comply with the federal rules.”

Under current guidance, all BCBST employees — since they work for a federal contractor — have until Jan. 4 to be vaccinated.