A bill signed by 94 state House members would require all presidential and vice presidential candidates to present a birth certificate to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office before they can be put on the statewide ballot.

The Presidential Eligibility Assurance Act, House Bill 401, would demand of each candidate a long-form birth certificate, a sworn statement that the candidate has never been a citizen of another country and a confirmation that the candidate has lived in the U.S. for the previous 14 years.

During the 2008 presidential elections, allegations were raised that then-candidate Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen, which spurred him to release documentation from Hawaii confirming his birth in that state.

Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Waycross, the lead author on the bill, is skeptical of the documentation.

The document is a certificate of live birth from the state of Hawaii, valid for use in court proceedings and is considered by Hawaii a legitimate birth certificate.

But Hatfield called on Obama to release the actual piece of paper issued at his 1961 birth.

“I’m saying I don’t know where Obama was born,” said Hatfield. “It’s not just an Obama question.

It seeks to fill the void left by Congress” in enforcing Article II of the Constitution on presidential eligibility.

Hatfield expects a subcommittee hearing as early as Wednesday.

One signer is a Democrat; the other 93 are Republicans.

Bipartisan bill would require gun safety courses

A bill filed in the state House would require all would-be gun-toters born after July 1991 to complete a safety course in order to get or renew a pistol or revolver license.

The author of House Bill 286 is Rep. Pedro Marin, D-Duluth.

But the second signature is that of a Republican, Rep. Joe Wilkinson of Sandy Springs.

If a person uses a gun on the job, such as police or military, that person can simply submit proof of the place of employment.

All others would have to take an approved course on safety and loading, firing and unloading weapons.

Last year, a bill that would have allowed concealed weapons to be carried in more places ran into some opposition from both parties because the liberalization was not accompanied by a training requirement.

In the end, a bill passed, but it was not as broad as supporters had sought.

Texas and Florida, among other states, require people to undergo gun training before issuing a concealed carry permit.

There’s no committee hearing date set yet on the bill.