H.B. No. 5515

AN ACT

relating to restrictions on freight and shipping costs included in the price of instructional materials for public schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 31.151(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials:

(1) shall furnish any instructional material the publisher or manufacturer offers in this state at a price that does not exceed the lowest price at which the publisher offers that instructional material for adoption or sale to any state, public school, or school district in the United States;

(2) shall automatically reduce the price of instructional material sold for use in a school district or open-enrollment charter school to the extent that the price is reduced elsewhere in the United States;

(3) shall provide any instructional material or ancillary item free of charge in this state to the same extent that the publisher or manufacturer provides the instructional material or ancillary item free of charge to any state, public school, or school district in the United States;

(4) may not include in the price of instructional material a freight and shipping cost that:

(A) exceeds the actual cost of delivering the instructional material, as determined based on the standard rate published by the carrier for the specified delivery method of the instructional material; or

(B) includes a handling or similar charge that is not directly related to the shipment of physical copies of the instructional material;

(5) [(4)] shall guarantee that each copy of instructional material sold in this state is at least equal in quality to copies of that instructional material sold elsewhere in the United States and is free from factual error;

(6) [(5)] may not become associated or connected with, directly or indirectly, any combination in restraint of trade in instructional materials or enter into any understanding or combination to control prices or restrict competition in the sale of instructional materials for use in this state;

(7) [(6)] shall deliver instructional materials to a school district or open-enrollment charter school;

(8) [(7)] shall, at the time an order for instructional materials is acknowledged, provide to school districts or open-enrollment charter schools an accurate shipping date for instructional materials that are back-ordered;

(9) [(8)] shall guarantee delivery of instructional materials at least 10 business days before the opening day of school of the year for which the instructional materials are ordered if the instructional materials are ordered by a date specified in the sales contract;

(10) [(9)] shall submit to the State Board of Education an affidavit certifying any instructional material the publisher or manufacturer offers in this state to be free of factual errors at the time the publisher executes the contract required by Section 31.026; and

(11) [(10)] shall comply with all other standard terms and conditions adopted by the State Board of Education for use in contracts for the procurement of instructional materials under Subsection (a-1).

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 5515 was passed by the House on May 15, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 1, 3 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 5515 was passed by the Senate on May 23, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: _____________________

Date

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Governor