Feb 27, 2015 10:45 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

A group of U.S. senators introduced a new bill Thursday that would dramatically increase the amount of money the federal government can penalize a school for mishandling sexual assault investigations.

According to the Huffington Post, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA) would up individual Clery Act violation penalties from $35,000 to $150,000. Title IX violations would be punishable by a fine of up to one percent of the school's operating budget that year.

The bill also proposes to require schools to provide more accurate sexual assault and misconduct statistics, as well as a crystal-clear process for complainants to navigate the adjudication process. A politician who has long supported federal policies to reform sexual assault on college campuses, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) co-sponsored the bipartisan bill.

"The reason why schools are failing is because they do not take this crime seriously," she said in a press conference Thursday.

While the Clery Act fine increases are significant, the Title IX violation fine is arguably more so. The Education Department's only option for punishing a school that violates Title IX is to pull federal funding altogether. However, they have never done that, though they do hand out plenty of warnings.

As of Jan., with the addition of Columbia University, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights had placed 95 institutions under investigation for Title IX and/or Clery Act complaints. Another problem for sexual assault reform activists is that penalties do not seem to affect a lasting change.

For example, one glaring loophole in the Clery Act is that only officially reported crimes need to be disclosed, rather than complaints that do not turn into investigations.

Also sponsoring the bill were Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

The HP reported last Sept. that only about one-third of students found responsible of sexual assault actually face expulsion. It was determined that nearly half such students are suspended.

Gillibrand mentioned the report at the presser Thursday, posing the question, "What does it say about these school priorities if some colleges have a tougher justice system for a student cheating on an exam than for somebody who has raped another student?"

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