Obama records bill passes

HONOLULU – Hawaii legislators passed a measure Tuesday allowing a state agency to ignore repeated requests from a person or organization for President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

The measure approved Tuesday by the state Legislature would carve an exemption in the state’s public records law and allow officials to ignore all kinds of duplicative requests, including those for Obama’s birth certificate.

Hawaii Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino has issued two statements since 2008 saying she had seen vital records proving Obama is a natural-born American citizen. Obama was born in Honolulu to a Kenyan father and an American mother.

But state officials say they still get between 10 and 20 e-mails each week seeking verification of Obama’s birth.

The bill now goes to Gov. Linda Lingle.