Forget washing your mouth out with soap. Massachusetts lawmakers will debate raising the bar to fines or jail time for cursing.

The Joint Committee on the Judiciary will spend a portion of its Tuesday discussing the possibility of penalizing individuals for using the word “bitch” in a derogatory manner.

A bill sponsored by Daniel Hunt, a Democrat representing Suffolk’s 13th district, would ban the use of the word.

UPDATE: After Massachusetts legislator introduces bill to make it illegal to call someone a b----, online attacks directed his way

On Twitter, Hunt, the Democrat representing Suffolk’s 13th district, explained that state law allows every resident to present bills to the legislature for consideration, providing “every Massachusetts resident a voice inside the Halls of the State House.”

According to the State Library, Massachusetts is the only state in the country that gives its citizens the right to file bills directly in its Legislature. This right can also be found in the Massachusetts Constitution, which is also the oldest constitution in the world that is still currently in use.

The bill would add a third amendment to section of the Massachusetts General Laws pertaining to “common night walkers,” indecent exposure, lascivious speech and disorderly conduct.

The amendment reads, “A person who uses the word ‘bitch’ directed at another person to accost, annoy, degrade or demean the other person shall be considered to be a disorderly person in violation of this section, and shall be subject to the penalties provided in subsections (a) and (b). A violation of this subsection may be reported by the person to whom the offensive language was directed at or by any witness to such incident.”

The penalties described in the law include prison time of no more than six months and a fine that won’t exceed $200.

The official Twitter account of the Massachusetts GOP was critical of the bill and suggested the public should appear at the hearing and “Let ‘em have it.”

Another tweet, mocked the issue.

“Beacon Hill Democrats like @repdanhunt are fearlessly taking on the biggest problems facing the commonwealth. #mapoli,” the tweet said.