While the ISU Police Department continues its investigation into the Dec. 3 hit-and-run that caused the death of ISU student Kelly Laughery, an Ames lawmaker plans to draft a bill that would impose harsher penalties for drivers involved in hit-and-run incidents in Iowa.

Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames, said she intends to complete a draft of a bill by early next week that would allow more serious charges to be brought against drivers guilty of fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in serious injury or death to another.

Heddens, a member of the House Public Safety Committee, said she has consulted the Iowa Attorney General’s Office to see what form the bill can legally take.

“I’ve been looking at ways to address the situation. Maybe we can put another, more severe, level within the code of penalties,” she said.

The accident that claimed Laughery’s life, Heddens said, played a role in her decision to pursue the issue.

“I was contacted by someone out of my district that saw this as a real problem,” she said, “then the incident in Ames just increased the urgency of the issue, and made me think even more that this is something we need to look at.”

Heddens said she has not yet worked out the specifics of the bill.

Leaders in the Iowa Senate said they would consider a bill allowing harsher sentences for hit-and-run drivers.

Senate Democratic Floor Leader Michael Gronstal of Council Bluffs said he would welcome discussion of such a measure.

“First I’d have to see what the bill looks like,” Gronstal said, “but I’m not expressing any hostility or resistance to this idea. It’s one we’d be willing to take a look at.”

Senate Republican Floor Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows also said he would consider the bill.

“Obviously we don’t know that much about it yet, but I’m certainly willing to look,” Iverson said.

Robert Schmill, an Omaha man seeking more severe consequences for hit-and-run drivers in Nebraska, said he has begun setting his sights on Iowa.

Schmill’s son Matt died in a hit-and-run incident in 2004, motivating him to pursue tougher state laws.

“I gave a talk last night in Sioux City,” he said, “and from people – the people I’ve met with – they can’t believe that it’s a misdemeanor and they want to know why this law hasn’t been changed in the past.”

Schmill said he is confident a bill allowing more serious hit-and-run punishments, currently in committee in the Nebraska Unicameral, will pass.

“It looks likely that it will go in front of the general session and get voted in as a law before the end of the session,” he said.

On Dec. 15 ISU Police identified the driver that struck Laughery as Shanda Munn, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication. No charges have been filed in connection to the incident.

ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said ISU Police would continue to investigate the accident.