NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Governor Bill Lee says it's time for COVID-19 restrictions to be lifted in Nashville. He made the comments during his press briefing Thursday while addressing Nashville Mayor John Cooper's request for more funding from the state to aid in the city's response to the pandemic.
The governor denied the request saying, "We will partner with and work with the mayor but the current request...I’m not going fund the current request as requested."
"The reality is that Metro Nashville has received, of the coronavirus relief funds, $121 million set aside specifically through the federal government for Metro Nashville. They were one of the few counties that actually received designated funding from the federal government. There are 95 counties. Providing funding for Davidson County additionally, beyond the millions of dollars they currently have, means taking away funding from the other 94 other counties and that's something that, for me to consider that the strategy that I’m investing in, aligns with the state’s strategy and Metro Nashville’s does not," Lee explained.
That strategy has included a mask mandate and a multi-phase reopening plan which has been tough on local businesses since the shutdown. Downtown businesses, which rely on tourism, have been hit especially hard.
"We need Nashville to open up. We need conventions to be here. We need to operate safely, but we need our economy moving forward there's a great cost to Tennessee when we restrict businesses and close down our economy," said Lee.
Governor Lee spoke about the toll the pandemic has taken on Nashville's economy, which in turn hurts the state as a whole. He said it has not been effective and compared it to the state's strategy, which he said has been successful.
"Metro Nashville is the least rapidly recovering economy of all metro regions in the United States as of right now; that means in my view, that our strategy in that particular place - from an economic standpoint - is not an effective one. And that includes restrictions on businesses and their ability to operate, to employee, to generate revenue for our state. And to the degree that we can lift those restrictions as soon as possible, that's the strategy that I’ve taken and that’s the strategy that I think we should take all across the state," said Lee.
When asked if he would consider making an order to roll back the Metro restrictions or remove local government’s authority to issue Coronavirus restrictions he said he would focus on ongoing discussions with Mayor Cooper in hopes of working together.
"I'm certainly not going to invest further into what I think is not a good strategy…I think that he and I will be talking about what we can do together and how we can work together to make Nashville’s economy and all of Tennessee's economy to move more rapidly in the right direction."
Cooper announced earlier in the day the city will move forward to its Phase Three of reopening beginning October 1. However, bars and limited-service restaurants can increase their capacity as early as Friday.
