NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Following the lead of President Donald Trump, Tennessee lawmakers have filed a bill that would remove all references to the World Health Organization (WHO) in state law.
The bill, filed by Memphis Sen. Brent Taylor (R), would replace all references to the WHO in state law with the “federal centers for disease control and prevention,” or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Additionally, the bill requires any declared pandemic to come from the CDC, rather than WHO, and a subsequent declaration of a state of emergency from the governor. The governor would have exclusive jurisdiction to issue executive orders and directives related to the pandemic until that pandemic ceased to exist, per the legislative summary of the bill.
The move comes after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the WHO after taking office earlier this year.
