D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine had legislation introduced at the D.C. Council on Wednesday that would make clergy and other religious leaders mandated reporters of child abuse. Racine has been floating the legislation, seeking input from faith leaders and others, since late last year. As written, the law would also strengthen reporting requirements in other ways, extending the circumstances in which adults have to report allegations to police and requiring new training for mandated reporters.

The legislation comes on the heels of a series of troublesome revelations involving D.C. clerics: The vatican suspended a former D.C. archbishop, Theodore McCarrick, last summer after several allegations of sexual abuse and harassment came to light. Months later, the pope accepted the resignation of former D.C. Archbishop Donald Wuerl after accusations that he hadn’t dealt properly with clerics accused of sexual abuse when he was a cleric in Pennsylvania (Wuerl is still completing his job duties until his replacement as archbishop is named).

In D.C., all adults are required to report suspected sexual abuse of a child 16 or younger to civil officials. But mandated reporters have more stringent reporting responsibilities with more severe consequences, including jail time, for failure to report.

The proposed legislation would expand mandated reporters’ responsibilities in a few different ways: mandated reporters would have to report any suspected sexual abuse of a child, even if they don’t directly know the child and even if the child is already an adult. All mandated reporters will have to report the suspected abuse not only to authorities, but also to the head of their institutions and boards of directors. Those people, in turn, would then also be required to notify authorities. The legislation adds clergy to the list of people required to report abuse, but provides an exception for anything told to clergy during confession—a key sticking point for Catholic leaders. The leaders of religious institutions, churches, and synagogues will also have an independent responsibility to report abuse.

The proposed legislation also institutes a harsher penalty for failing to report abuse, upping the fine from $1,000 to $2,500 for a first offense and $5,000 for all others. The attorney general would also be required to report any resulting conviction to relevant licensing or certification boards.

Finally, the bill would require training for mandated reporters that certifies them as such. The training would teach the purpose of mandated reporting requirements, how to report, what happens after a report is filed, and the legal definitions of abuse and neglect, among other things. Any mandated reporter who fails to take the certification course can be fined $300.

“Teachers, health professionals, and clergy have a special responsibility to protect children, but far too often abuse goes unreported or is covered up,” Racine said in a release. “I urge the Council to pass this legislation quickly—our children deserve nothing less.”

This post has been updated to clarify the exact nature of what mandated reporters are required to report to authorities.