A top Tennessee lawmaker outlined Monday how some state businesses could open up within days, hours before Governor Bill Lee made an announcement that stated that would happen.
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“I think you are going to see by the end of this week or the first of next week, that we are going to cautiously be opening different sectors of Tennessee,” House Republican Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison told News 2 on Monday morning.
The lawmaker from Cocke County said “small mom and pop businesses might be the first to reopen” when “they are ready to meet the demand of the public in a safe way.”
Representative Faison cites his own nonscientific Twitter poll that shows some Tennesseans will take their chances at catching COVID-19 in exchange for reopening the economy.
“Amazingly there are over 800 people who have voted now and its 62% of the Tennesseans who voted for this,” said the lawmaker. “They are willing to possibly get COVID for the country to open back up.”
Rep. Faison added something others may be thinking as they wonder when certain businesses may be ready for customers
“A lot of us are going to look like Sasquatch if we don’t get our beauticians and our barbers open back up,” he said.
Rep. Faison’s words come after he indicated spending part of Monday morning on a conference call with hundred or so business owners who are part of Governor Lee’s task force on when Tennessee businesses should reopen.
