ST. PAUL — Two Minnesota legislators from Austin will push for tighter child abuse laws at the Capitol starting later this week.

Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, will push a bill she introduced, which would change the wording of the child false imprisonment law during a hearing at 8:15 a.m. Thursday in a House of Representatives committee. If it makes it through the committee, the bill will move on to the House floor. The bill would change a single word and lower the threshold for charging false imprisonment crimes against children as felonies.

“It’s very important to protect the children,” said Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, who introduced the bill in the Senate. “This deserves a hearing. We’d like to see it moved forward.”

Local law enforcement thought the change was necessary, Sparks said. Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi will be one of several local authorities to attend the hearing Thursday morning, and may testify before the committee.

Mower County Attorney Kristen Nelsen, Assistant Mower County Attorney Aaron Jones and Mower County Sheriff’s Detective Steve Sandvik will also attend the hearing, along with a child protection worker. Poppe said the testifiers can describe the pieces of the puzzle that highlight the need for change.

The proposal, which would change the phrase “substantial bodily harm” to “demonstrable bodily harm,” was spurred by the sentencing of Dexter couple Brian and Charity Miller last July. The parents were convicted of chaining their now 6-year-old son to his crib from bedtime until morning every night over a six-month period and withholding food and bathroom access from him and his 8-year-old brother.

“The chaining incident is a prime example,” Amazi said. “It was a pretty horrific event to only charge as a gross misdemeanor.”

For that case to have reached felony status, prosecutors would have had to show the children were subject to “substantial bodily harm.” This wasn’t possible because doctors were unable to support the harm was substantial. The case is fairly unique in that there was so little prosecutors could do, Amazi said.

Whether the bill passes or not, the ruling on the Millers’ case cannot change, Nelsen said. Tightening the legislature would instead ensure future incidents can be punished more severely.

“There was a lot of community outrage that it wasn’t charged under a harsher penalty,” Nelsen said. “None of us believe that conduct was a gross misdemeanor.”

The House needs to hear the bill by Friday for it to be considered during this legislative session. If it passes, the bill will face a similar deadline in the Senate next week. Poppe said she thinks the Republican majority will be concerned about passing the bill.