The Hawaii Department of Health has been at the center of a "birther battle", long before President Barack Obama took office. With almost daily requests for his birth certificate from those who believe he is not a natural-born U.S. citizen.
"That was originally the reason why I had introduced the legislation regarding providing limited birth records so we could put an end to this controversy once and for all," says Sen. WilL Espero, (D) Ewa Beach.
The measure passed by lawmakers this week allows the state to ignore repeated "birther" requests for up to a year.
"In other words you cannot come back to the Department of Health and ask the same question over and over again whether on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis," says Sen. Espero.
The Obama campaign released copies of his birth certificate in 2008. Showing he was born August 4th, 1961 in the state of Hawaii, a fact confirmed by our State Health Department.
"They're just getting a backlog, too much time is being spent on basically the same issue and they needed some relief," says Sen. Espero.
But some lawmakers say what's meant to fix one problem could lead to another.
"To me it just sets a precedent of cutting off access to government information and I just don't think that's a good precedent to set," says Rep. Karl Rhoads, (D) Palama, Downtown.
Rep. Rhoads and nine other House members voted against the Senate bill. But they were outnumbered, and the measure now awaits the Governor's signature.
"If it actually becomes law, is it going to stop the birthers from e-mailing the Department of Health and saying we want his we want that?," he questions. "I don't know, I just don't see that it is really that helpful."
The "birther battle" doesn't end here - a bill being considered in Arizona would require a review and approval of a Presidential candidate's birth certificate before letting their name appear on the state ballot.
