Several New Hampshire House Democrats Tuesday urged legislative and Executive Council Republicans to accept $27 million in federal funding to enhance the state’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts while calling for more information to be made public on how many lawmakers test positive for the virus.The federal funding includes money for 13 new positions that would be filled by people who would work to instill confidence in the safety of the vaccine among those who are reluctant to take it, and for contracts with vendors and enhancement of the state’s Immunization Information System.In separate actions, Republicans on the council and the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee tabled two requests, totaling $27 million, made by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services several weeks ago. Their concern was language in the grant documents that appeared to require the state to adhere to federal COVID-related mandates and orders if the funds were accepted.The five-member Executive Council will meet tomorrow at the headquarters of the Police Standards and Training Council, and there may be a motion made to remove the funding requests from the table and vote on them. Protests against vaccine mandates that abruptly halted the opening of the council meeting on Sept. 30, when the funding issue had been expected to come up, could crop up again. Gov. Chris Sununu warned that if the protesters "get out of line," they'll be asked to leave or arrested. If the items are removed and voted on, the outcome is unclear, although at least two of the four Republican councilors continue to oppose accepting the grant.Attorney General John Formella, at the request of Sununu and the Executive Council, issued an opinion in a memo to Sununu last Friday that accepting the funds would not tie the state to any “broad and sweeping” mandates.Separately, controversy arose in September, when the former chair of the House Finance Committee and the fiscal committee was confronted by DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibinette for spreading misinformation about the percentage of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are, and are not, vaccinated.State Rep. Ken Weyler, R-Kingston, later resigned under pressure as chair of the two committees after being criticized by Republican Sununu and Democrats for disseminating a false report laden with conspiracy theories and anti-Catholic language.And on Sept. 30, the scheduled council meeting was postponed until tomorrow when anti-vaccine protesters disrupted the opening of the proceedings.Tuesday, after one of the Sept. 30 protesters warned on Facebook of a "civil war" if the funds are accepted, Sununu told WMUR: "If there are disturbances, if people get out of line, they'll be asked to be removed, or even arrested if it gets to that."Approval of both the council and the fiscal committee are needed for the funds to be accepted, state Division of Public Health Services Director Patricia Tilley confirmed in an interview with WMUR on Sept. 24.Tilley at the time said the federal funds were “incredibly important to us … Without these federal funds, progress is going to slow down for the distribution of vaccine for New Hampshire residents who want and need protection from COVID-19.”But Executive Councilors David Wheeler, R-Milford, and Joe Kenney, R-Union, said they have not changed their minds in opposition.Wheeler took issue with Formella’s memo when it was released last week and again in an interview Tuesday.“I don’t think anything has changed,” Wheeler said. “The AG’s opinion is squishy at best. He uses a lot of weasel words like ‘apparently.’ It reads like a ‘definite maybe.’”Wheeler said he was unsure Tuesday afternoon if he will be the one to make a motion to remove the requests from the table and vote on them.“I’d just assume dispose of the matter one way or another,” he said, but he added that before he commits, “I like to count the votes.”Kenney told WMUR he has issues with the fact that some of the money would be used to upgrade the state’s online Immunization Information System – also known as a vaccine registry.“I’ve already voted against it once,” Kenney said. “Again, my concern is the central vaccine registry mandates in the contract, and I don’t want to see the Biden administration dictate to New Hampshire what it should do and what it shouldn’t do.”The council's lone Democrat, Cinde Warmington of Concord, strongly supports accepting the funds.“I think that when you put an item on the table to get more information or need further time to research or discuss it, that’s fine,” Warmington said. “But leaving it on the table to avoid having a conversation or to avoid voting, that, to me, is a failure of leadership.“I'm going to support – and do everything I can to support – vaccine funding in our state," Warmington said. "This is really important money."Republican councilors Ted Gatsas of Manchester and Janet Stevens of Rye did not return calls and texts from WMUR seeking their views.The 12-member Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, meanwhile, will hold its next meeting Oct. 22 and could remove the items from the table and vote on them.Key legislative Democrats on Tuesday held a virtual news conference to urge acceptance of the funds and continued their earlier criticism of Republican legislative leaders.Rep. Lucy Weber, D-Walpole, said the state is in the midst of a “disinformation crisis” as a result of Weyler sharing the so-called “vaccine death report.” She said that if Weyler remains on the fiscal committee possibly in the role of vice chair, then little will have changed.“Unfortunately, the New Hampshire GOP has compromised their ability to serve the public’s best interest by encouraging the spread of disinformation among their own elected leaders and their constituency,” Weber said. Rep. William Marsh of Wolfeboro, an ophthalmologist who recently changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic, said, “The same people who spread disinformation have expressed concern about these contracts.”Marsh said that in areas in which there have been government or employer vaccine mandates, vaccination rates have increased.He noted that since September, the Biden administration has been requiring workers in health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to receive vaccinations. Facilities must have a policy in place, while the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said it will have an “interim final rule” with a comment period this month.A separate rule requiring all employers with more than 100 employees to require worker vaccinations is forthcoming from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.“My understanding is that most employees, when given the choice between getting vaccinated and losing their job, at the end of the day will choose to get vaccinated,” Marsh said.“I think that when employers put in place the provisions that are needed to protect the patients in a health care facility, or clients in a business, as well as the employees, that the employees will get on board and get vaccinated,” Marsh said. He cited the recent announcement by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health 99 percent of its employees are now vaccinated.'Coercion' chargedHouse Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, accused the Democrats of promoting “vaccination coercion tactics.”“The Democrats’ fustian can only be reconciled within the context of blind authoritarian indoctrination,” Osborne said. “It is ironic that these representatives have claimed to not want to invade people’s privacy, but openly advocate for policies to force employees to be vaccinated or lose their job," Osborne said. "Whether it is using blatant coercion or threatening to monitor your bank accounts for transactions over $600, the Democrat Party has made it evident that there is no limit to how many of your liberties that they intend to trample on when given the opportunity.”COVID-19 ‘dashboard’ for lawmakers proposedThe Democrats also called for a continual online update – a form of dashboard – to keep track of the number of House members who have tested positive for COVID-19.House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing of Hampton said House Speaker Sherman Packard’s office does collect or release that information.Weber cited the DHHS's daily update on the number of cases on a community-by-community basis through the state.“I see no reason why we could not have a similar report for the 400 members of the House, which would in no way release sensitive personal medical information,” she said.The Democrats also called for the Speaker to reinstate virtual committee meetings, which occurred throughout the COVID-19 state of emergency during much of 2020 and the early months of this year but ended when Sununu ended the state of emergency in June.A new House rule would be required to allow such access even though funds to allow for remote access to committee meetings were provided in the state budget.Packard pushes back (Update:) Responding to the Democrats’ criticism of the in-person requirement for attendance at committee meetings, Speaker Packard said: ‘ “Since taking office, Republican House leadership and General Court staff, have been working together to ensure a risk-mitigated environment. This is revisited on a regular basis according to best practices suggested by DHHS and CDC guidelines. Most recently, in addition to asking people to stay home if they experience symptoms, strongly suggesting mask use, and providing air purifiers throughout the State House and Legislative Office Building, the Speaker’s office and staff are also working to arrange desks in the committee room to accommodate physical distancing for members.Packard noted that when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020, and throughout 2020, Democrats were in the majority and occupied the Speaker’s office.“It is easy for the other side to say what is best and what they would do differently, except when given the chance they did nothing,” Packard said. “When House Democrats were in the majority there were no COVID-19 guidelines or mitigation practices in place, and they stopped all committee work. “House Republicans, with the help of General Court staff, put these risk mitigation measures in place so we could continue to work for the people of New Hampshire. While our counterparts continue to hide behind their social media accounts, and skirt their legislative responsibilities, Republicans will continue to work for the people who elected us.”Democratic lawmakers have sued the Speaker in his official capacity seeking to force remote access to full House sessions. That case is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.