BILL ANALYSIS
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AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
H.B. 33 amends current law relating to measures to increase the affordability of textbooks used for courses at public or private institutions of higher education.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Subchapter I, as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. TEXTBOOKS
Sec. 51.451. DEFINITIONS. Defines, in this subchapter, "college bookstore," "custom textbook," "faculty member," "institution of higher education," "supplemental material," "textbook," and "textbook bundle."
Sec. 51.452. DISSEMINATION OF COURSE SCHEDULE AND LIST OF REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS. (a) Requires each institution of higher education to:
(1) for each semester or academic term, compile a course schedule indicating each course offered by the institution for the semester or term to postsecondary students;
(2) with respect to each course, include with the schedule a list of the required and recommended textbooks that specifies, to the extent practicable, the following information for each textbook:
(A) the retail price;
(B) the author;
(C) the publisher;
(D) the most recent copyright date; and
(E) the International Standard Book Number assigned, if any;
(3) except as provided by Subsection (b), at the time required by Subsection (c)(2), publish the textbook list with the course schedule on the institution's Internet website and with any course schedule the institution provides in hard copy format to the students of the institution; and make that information available to college bookstores and other bookstores that generally serve the students of the institution; and
(4) except as provided by Subsection (b), as soon as practicable after the information becomes available disseminate as required by Subdivision (3), specific information regarding any revisions to the institution's course schedule and textbook list.
(b) Provides that an institution of higher education is not required to publish a textbook list as described by Subsection (a)(3)(A) or any revisions to that textbook list as described by Subsection (a)(4) if a college bookstore publishes that list and any revisions to that list on the bookstore's Internet website on behalf of the institution at the appropriate times required by this section.
(c) Requires each institution of higher education, to allow for timely placement of textbook orders by students, to:
(1) establish a deadline by which faculty members must submit information to be included in the course schedule and textbook list required by Subsection (a); and
(2) disseminate the institution's course schedule and textbook list as required by Subsection (a)(3) as soon as practicable after the institution has compiled the schedule and 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 schedule and list are compiled.
Sec. 51.453. TEXTBOOK ASSISTANCE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS. Requires an institution of higher education, to the extent practicable, to make reasonable efforts to disseminate to its students information regarding:
(1) available institutional programs for renting textbooks or for purchasing used textbooks;
(2) available institutional guaranteed textbook buyback programs;
(3) available institutional programs for alternative delivery of textbook content; and
(4) other available institutional textbook cost-savings strategies.
Sec. 51.454. TEXTBOOK PUBLISHERS: AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO FACULTY CONCERNING TEXTBOOK PRICES, REVISIONS, AND COPYRIGHTS. (a) Requires the publisher, when a textbook publisher provides information regarding a textbook or supplemental material to a faculty member or other person in charge of selecting course materials at an institution of higher education, to also provide to the faculty member or other person written information that includes:
(1) the price at which the publisher would make the textbook or supplemental material available to a college bookstore or other bookstore that generally serves the students of the institution and, if applicable, to the public;
(2) the copyright dates of the current and three preceding editions of the textbook;
(3) a description of any substantial content revisions made between the current edition of the textbook or supplemental material and the most recent preceding edition of the textbook or material, including the addition of new chapters, new material covering additional time periods, new themes, or new subject matter;
(4) information as to whether the textbook or supplemental material is available in other formats, such as a paperback or unbound version; and
(5) the price at which the publisher would make the textbook or supplemental material in any alternative format available to a bookstore described by Subdivision (1) and, if applicable, to the public.
(b) Requires a textbook publisher to comply with this section with respect to a custom textbook only to the extent reasonably practicable.
Sec. 51.455. TEXTBOOK BUNDLES. Requires a textbook publisher that offers a textbook bundle for sale directly to students enrolled at an institution of higher education or, for resale purposes, to a college bookstore or other bookstore that generally serves the students of the institution to also offer for sale to the students or bookstore, as applicable, each individual item of instructional material as a separate, unbundled item that is separately priced.
SECTION 2. Provides that Subchapter I, Chapter 51, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2012 fall semester.
SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2011.