'Joe the Plumber' leaks targeted in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Two Republican Ohio legislators say they want to plug the kind of personal information leaks that bubbled up on "Joe the Plumber."

Ohio State Rep. Shannon Jones of Springboro and state Sen. Mark Wagoner of Toledo have proposed legislation that calls for the immediate firing of any state employee who improperly accesses databases containing personal information, the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News reported Tuesday.

Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles determined earlier that Helen Jones-Kelley of the Ohio Job and Family Services Department had improperly authorized searches of databases with personal information on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher of suburban Toledo.

Also known as "Joe the Plumber," Wurzelbacher had become a key figure in the U.S. presidential campaign after questioning Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois about his tax plans.

Jones-Kelley was suspended for a month without pay. But Jones and Wagoner's bill would see such employees fired, as well as set new criteria for determining which employees would be allowed to access such information, the newspaper said.