By Hochberg H.B. No. 992
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to circumstances under which a publisher or manufacturer
1-3 of textbooks must maintain or arrange for a textbook depository in
1-4 this state.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 31.151(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (a) A publisher or manufacturer of textbooks:
1-9 (1) shall furnish any textbook the publisher or
1-10 manufacturer offers in this state, at a price that does not exceed
1-11 the lowest price at which the publisher offers that textbook for
1-12 adoption or sale to any state, public school, or school district in
1-13 the United States;
1-14 (2) shall automatically reduce the price of a textbook
1-15 sold for use in a school district or open-enrollment charter school
1-16 to the extent that the price is reduced elsewhere in the United
1-17 States;
1-18 (3) shall provide any textbook or ancillary item free
1-19 of charge in this state to the same extent that the publisher or
1-20 manufacturer provides the textbook or ancillary item free of charge
1-21 to any state, public school, or school district in the United
1-22 States;
1-23 (4) shall guarantee that each copy of a textbook sold
1-24 in this state is at least equal in quality to copies of that
2-1 textbook sold elsewhere in the United States and is free from
2-2 factual error;
2-3 (5) may not become associated or connected with,
2-4 directly or indirectly, any combination in restraint of trade in
2-5 textbooks or enter into any understanding or combination to control
2-6 prices or restrict competition in the sale of textbooks for use in
2-7 this state;
2-8 (6) shall maintain a depository in this state or
2-9 arrange with a depository in this state to receive and fill orders
2-10 for textbooks, consistent with State Board of Education rules, or
2-11 deliver textbooks without delivery charge to the receiving school;
2-12 (7) shall guarantee delivery of textbooks before the
2-13 opening day of school of the year for which the textbooks are
2-14 ordered if the textbooks are ordered by a date specified in the
2-15 sales contract; and
2-16 (8) shall submit to the State Board of Education an
2-17 affidavit certifying any textbook the publisher or manufacturer
2-18 offers in this state to be free of factual errors at the time the
2-19 publisher executes the contract required by Section 31.026.
2-20 SECTION 2. Section 31.103(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-21 read as follows:
2-22 (b) A requisition for textbooks for the following school
2-23 year shall be based on the maximum attendance reports under
2-24 Subsection (a), plus an additional 10 percent, except as otherwise
2-25 provided. A school district or open-enrollment charter school
2-26 shall make a requisition for a textbook on the conforming or
2-27 nonconforming list through the commissioner to the state depository
3-1 designated by the [each] publisher or as provided by State Board of
3-2 Education rule, as applicable, not later than June 1 of each year.
3-3 The designated state depository or publisher or manufacturer, if
3-4 the publisher or manufacturer delivers a designated textbook free
3-5 of delivery charge, [or other storage facility] shall fill a
3-6 requisition approved by the agency at any other time in the case of
3-7 an emergency.
3-8 SECTION 3. Section 31.104(b), Education Code, is amended to
3-9 read as follows:
3-10 (b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
3-11 order replacements for textbooks that have been lost or damaged
3-12 directly from:
3-13 (1) the textbook depository; or
3-14 (2) the textbook publisher or manufacturer if the
3-15 textbook publisher or manufacturer does not charge for delivery of
3-16 the textbook [replacements for textbooks that have been lost or
3-17 damaged].
3-18 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.