80R11921 CAS-F

By: Hochberg, Herrero, Brown of Brazos, H.B. No. 956

Naishtat, Veasey, et al.

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 956:

By: Brown of Brazos C.S.H.B. No. 956

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to measures to increase the affordability of textbooks used for courses at public institutions of higher education; providing a penalty.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter I to read as follows: SUBCHAPTER I. TEXTBOOKS

Sec. 51.451. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Commission" means the Texas Building and Procurement Commission.

(2) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

(3) "Faculty member" has the meaning assigned by Section 51.917.

(4) "Governing board" and "institution of higher education" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.

(5) "Open access publication" means a peer-reviewed publication that:

(A) is written by an identified author who is an expert in the subject matter of the publication; and

(B) is lawfully available free of charge through the Internet.

(6) "Textbook" means a book published primarily for the instruction of postsecondary students.

(7) "Textbook bundle" means a textbook offered for sale in combination with other related products.

(8) "University-affiliated bookstore" means a bookstore that:

(A) sells textbooks for courses offered by an institution of higher education, regardless of whether the bookstore is located on the campus of the institution; and

(B) is operated by or with the approval of the institution through ownership, a management agreement, a lease or rental agreement, or otherwise.

Sec. 51.452. COST CONSIDERATIONS. (a) A faculty member shall consider cost in selecting textbooks to require or recommend for student use in a course to be taught by the faculty member. A faculty member may not require or recommend a textbook for student use in the course unless the faculty member knows:

(1) the publisher's suggested retail price for the textbook; or

(2) the approximate retail price that would be charged for the textbook by a university-affiliated bookstore that is affiliated with the institution of higher education offering the course.

(b) A faculty member shall consider requiring or recommending an open access publication instead of a traditional textbook for student use in the course if the open access publication would:

(1) be more economical for students than a traditional textbook; and

(2) provide the necessary instructional content.

(c) A faculty member may not indicate to students that a textbook is required for student use in a course to be taught by the faculty member unless the faculty member expects the textbook to be used in the course.

(d) The coordinating board shall:

(1) monitor costs of textbooks required or recommended for student use in courses at institutions of higher education and periodically recommend to the legislature methods to reduce the cost of those textbooks to students; and

(2) collaborate with institutions of higher education and other appropriate entities to facilitate or encourage the development and availability of open access publications that may be used as instructional materials.

Sec. 51.453. REDUCING TEXTBOOK REVISIONS. (a) Except as otherwise authorized by Subsection (b), a faculty member may not require or recommend an edition of a textbook for student use in a course to be taught by the faculty member unless the faculty member has information indicating that the publisher of the textbook will not, until at least the third anniversary of the date that edition was initially released for wholesale purchase, release for wholesale purchase a later edition of that textbook.

(b) The chair of the appropriate academic department or another official designated by the institution of higher education offering a course may authorize the use in the course of an edition of the textbook otherwise prohibited by Subsection (a) if the chair or other official determines that:

(1) the use of the edition:

(A) would be more suitable to provide instruction to students than the use of an appropriate alternative textbook; or

(B) would cost students significantly less than the use of an appropriate alternative textbook; or

(2) another good cause exists.

Sec. 51.454. LIST OF REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS. (a) Each institution of higher education shall:

(1) for each course offered at the institution, compile a list of required textbooks that includes, for each textbook, the International Standard Book Number assigned, if any;

(2) except as provided by Subsection (c), post the list on the institution's Internet website as provided by Subsection (b)(2); and

(3) except as provided Subsection (c), post any revisions to the list on the institution's Internet website as soon as practicable after the information regarding the revision becomes available.

(b) To allow for timely placement of textbook orders by students, each institution of higher education shall:

(1) establish a deadline for submission by faculty members of information to be included on the list required by Subsection (a)(1); and

(2) as required by Subsection (a)(2), post the list on the institution's Internet website as soon as practicable after the institution has compiled the list but not later than the 30th day before the first day that classes are conducted for the semester or other academic term for which the list is compiled, and maintain the posting at least until the last day on which courses may be added for the semester or term.

(c) An institution of higher education may comply with Subsections (a)(2) and (3) by ensuring that a university-affiliated bookstore or another bookstore at which the institution's students generally purchase textbooks, as applicable, posts the list and any revisions on the bookstore's Internet website at the times required by Subsections (a)(3) and (b)(2) for posting by the institution.

Sec. 51.455. TEXTBOOK BUNDLES. (a) A university-affiliated bookstore may not sell instructional materials as a textbook bundle unless the publisher that assembled the textbook bundle allows the bookstore to return to the publisher the textbook bundle on the same terms as the publisher allows the bookstore to return to the publisher a textbook that is not part of a textbook bundle and:

(1) all of the instructional materials in the textbook bundle are required by a faculty member for student use in a course; or

(2) the price of the textbook bundle is lower than the total price would be for all of the instructional materials in the textbook bundle that are required by the faculty member if those materials were sold separately.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a faculty member may not require a textbook bundle for student use in a course unless the publisher that assembled the textbook bundle allows retail sellers of the textbook bundle to students of the institution to return to the publisher the textbook bundle on the same terms as the publisher allows the retail seller to return to the publisher a textbook that is not part of a textbook bundle and:

(1) the faculty member intends students to use in the course all of the instructional materials in the textbook bundle; or

(2) the condition described by Subsection (a)(2) applies at the time the faculty member selects the instructional materials for the course.

(c) The chair of the appropriate academic department or another official designated by an institution of higher education offering a course may authorize the use in the course of a textbook bundle otherwise prohibited by Subsection (b) if the chair or other official determines that:

(1) the use of the textbook bundle:

(A) would be more suitable to provide instruction to students than the use of appropriate alternative instructional materials that are not in a textbook bundle; or

(B) would cost students significantly less than the use of instructional materials provided in another manner; or

(2) another good cause exists.

Sec. 51.456. EQUALITY OF TREATMENT OF TEXTBOOK RETAILERS. (a) An institution of higher education may not impose greater restrictions on a textbook retailer's advertisement or on promotion of the retailer's textbook business on the institution's campus than the restrictions the institution imposes on such advertisement or promotion on campus by any other similar entity. This subsection does not require that a competitor of a university-affiliated bookstore be allowed to advertise inside the bookstore.

(b) If an institution of higher education acts jointly with a university-affiliated bookstore to provide a method for a student to use grant or loan money to purchase textbooks or other instructional materials or for enabling a student to delay paying the costs of textbooks or other instructional materials, the institution shall, to the extent practicable and consistent with Section 51.929, establish a similar arrangement with one or more other retailers that sell textbooks required for a course at the institution and that request to participate in such an arrangement. An institution may comply with this subsection by enabling a student to purchase textbooks or other instructional materials at the university-affiliated bookstore and at the other retailer or retailers by using a credit or debit card funded with the student's grant or loan money, as applicable. The institution may establish reasonable conditions for the other retailer or retailers to satisfy with respect to textbook sales, provided that those conditions do not provide a substantial advantage to the university-affiliated bookstore.

Sec. 51.457. STATE PURCHASING; DISCOUNTED PRICES. (a) The commission, in consultation with institutions of higher education and other persons with expertise concerning the sales and pricing of textbooks used in higher education courses, shall attempt to negotiate with publishers of textbooks required for courses offered by an institution of higher education discounted prices for textbooks for some or all of those courses, as determined by the commission. If the commission and a publisher reach an agreement on discounted prices, they shall enter into a contract under which the publisher agrees that, if the publisher sells textbooks subject to the contract to a university-affiliated bookstore, the publisher will sell the textbooks to the bookstore at the prices established by the contract. The commission may not negotiate discounted prices under this subsection for:

(1) textbooks prohibited by Section 51.453(a); or

(2) textbook bundles prohibited by Section 51.455(a).

(b) A faculty member satisfies Sections 51.452(a), 51.453(a), and 51.455(b) if the faculty member requires or recommends for student use in a course a textbook that is subject to a contract under this section. This section does not prohibit a faculty member from requiring or recommending for student use in a course a textbook that is not subject to a contract under this section.

(c) A university-affiliated bookstore that purchases textbooks from a publisher at discounted prices as provided by a contract described by Subsection (a) shall sell the textbooks when new at a retail price that reflects a percentage discount on the regular retail price equal to the percentage discount negotiated under Subsection (a).

(d) Not later than the 60th day before the date of the deadline established under Section 51.454(b)(1), the commission shall:

(1) make a list of textbooks subject to discount pricing under this section; and

(2) post the list on the commission's Internet website.

(e) The commission may adopt rules as necessary to administer this section.

Sec. 51.458. ACCEPTING REBATE ON TEXTBOOKS PROHIBITED. (a) In this section, "gift, favor, or service" does not include:

(1) faculty training or other staff development;

(2) a sample copy or instructor's copy of a textbook or other instructional material, including a map or worksheet; or

(3) a royalty or other compensation accepted by a faculty member from the sale of one or more textbooks based wholly or partly on the faculty member's own work.

(b) A member of the governing board, an administrator, or a faculty member of an institution of higher education commits an offense if the person:

(1) accepts a commission or rebate on the sale of a textbook required or recommended for a course offered by the institution; or

(2) accepts a gift, favor, or service that:

(A) is given to the person or the institution; and

(B) might reasonably tend to influence the person in selecting or contributing to the selection of a textbook for a course offered by the institution.

(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

Sec. 51.459. RULES. The coordinating board may adopt rules to administer this subchapter, other than Section 51.457.

SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 51, Education Code, as added by this Act, other than Section 51.458 of that subchapter, applies to textbooks used at public institutions of higher education beginning with the 2008 fall semester.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.