U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Mayor Stephanie Miner were on campus Monday to discuss the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. This new legislation would introduce a universal precedent for all colleges in the U.S. to regulate how sexual assault is dealt with on campus. This bill should act as the bare minimum that colleges should adhere to. But it will be for nothing if the standards are not enforced.

The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced to the Senate on Thursday and is meant to regulate sexual assault dealings, increase transparency and incentivize colleges to publicize on campus assaults. If properly enforced, this mandate could make it so students attending colleges of all sizes all across the country feel the same protection. This legislation is a good step toward addressing campus sexual assault, but it could set an even higher standard.

One of the aspects of the bill would require all colleges to circulate a biennial survey to all of their students. This would allow students to anonymously disclose their dealings with sexual violence. The findings would then be published online for all to see. While this survey would help colleges and the government get a better picture of students’ experiences, issuing it every other year isn’t sufficient. There is no reason that the survey could not be disseminated annually, and then there would be twice as much information.

Additionally there would be increased penalties for colleges that do not comply with these regulations, such as those that are caught covering up assaults. Certain infractions could incur “a penalty of up to 1 percent of the institution’s operating budget.” While this is drastically more severe than the current penalty which consists of a loss of financial aid, the latter punishment has never been utilized. Therein lies the biggest problem with campus sexual assault most legislation.

Higher standards on paper do nothing if they are not enforced. There is not an absence of legislation and standards for sexual assault dealings on college campuses; the problem is in the follow through. If this bill becomes a law, as it should, schools that do violate these rules should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.