HBA-JEK, MPM H.B. 623 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 623 By: Hochberg Public Education 7/3/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Education Agency pays for and distributes most of the textbooks used in public schools in this state. State law is designed to ensure that textbooks can be ordered with relative ease and arrive at their intended school districts before the beginning of the school year. However, an interim study by the Committee on Public Education concluded that law prior to the 77th Legislature did not provide for the most efficient and timely distribution of textbooks. House Bill 623 amends provisions regarding the purchase and distribution of textbooks for public schools. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the State Board of Education in SECTION 2 (Sec. 31.030, Education Code) and SECTION 5 (Section 31.1031, Education Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 623 amends the Education Code to require the commissioner of education (commissioner) to implement a program to study the use of credits for textbook purchases that will allow a participating school district (district) or open-enrollment charter school (charter school) to receive credit for textbooks purchased at a cost below the cost limit set by the State Board of Education (SBOE). The bill provides that the credit is an amount equal to the difference between the actual textbook price and the cost limit for that textbook, multiplied by the number of copies of the textbook purchased. The bill requires 50 percent of the district's or charter school's credit to be distributed to the state textbook fund and the remaining 50 percent to the participating districts or charter schools for the purchase of additional textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming list. The bill requires the commissioner to prepare a report on the use of the credit system for the 79th Legislature. The textbook credit provisions expire on September 1, 2005. H.B. 623 authorizes a district or charter school to requisition textbooks on the conforming and nonconforming lists for grades above the grade level in which a student is enrolled except that the total quantity requisitioned may not exceed the limit permitted by law. If a district or charter school does not have sufficient copies of a textbook for use during the following school year, the bill entitles a district or charter school to be reimbursed from the state textbook fund for the purchase of used adopted textbooks at a rate provided by SBOE rule or to return currently-used textbooks to the commissioner in exchange for sufficient copies of other available textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming lists. The bill requires SBOE to adopt rules to ensure that used textbooks sold to districts and charter schools are not sample copies that contain factual errors. The bill requires a publisher or manufacturer of textbooks to provide a district or charter school an accurate shipping date for back-ordered textbooks at the time the order is acknowledged, and guarantee delivery of the textbooks at least 10 business days before the first day of school. H.B. 623 provides that a school trustee, administrator, or teacher commits an offense if the person accepts a gift, favor, or service other than an instructional material or training that is given to the person or the person's school, could not be lawfully purchased with funds from the state textbook fund, and might reasonably tend to influence a trustee, administrator, or teacher in the selection of a textbook. EFFECTIVE DATE June 14, 2001. The provision relating to the acceptance of a gift, favor, or service takes effect September 1, 2001.