WASHINGTON (AP) – In the wake of a year that saw widespread complaints of indecency against radio and television broadcasts, senators are proposing an increase in the maximum penalties for the violations.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., introduced legislation Wednesday that would boost the current $32,500 fine tenfold to a maximum penalty of $325,000 for each violation.

They would cap the penalty assessed by the Federal Communications Commission at $3 million for any single act.

The FCC received more than a million indecency complaints in 2004, most of them involving Janet Jackson’s so-called “wardrobe malfunction.”

Fines for indecent programming exceeded $7.7 million last year, a huge increase from the $48,000 imposed in 2000.

“In a media culture that increasingly pushes the envelope on sex and violence, the role of the FCC is to ensure that broadcasters do not cross that line of decency,” Lieberman said. “This legislation gives the FCC more leverage to do its job by increasing the consequences of violating our broadcasting standards.”