H.B. No. 33
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to measures to increase the affordability of textbooks
  used for courses at public or private institutions of higher
  education.
         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)  "College bookstore" means a bookstore that is:
                     (A)  operated by an institution of higher
  education; or
                     (B)  in a contractual relationship or otherwise
  affiliated with an institution of higher education.
               (2)  "Custom textbook" means a textbook that is
  compiled by a publisher at the direction of a faculty member or
  other person in charge of selecting course materials at an
  institution of higher education and that may include items such as
  selections from original instructor materials, previously
  copyrighted publisher materials, copyrighted third-party works, or
  elements unique to a specific institution.
               (3)  "Faculty member" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 51.917.
               (4)  "Institution of higher education" means:
                     (A)  an institution of higher education as defined
  by Section 61.003; or
                     (B)  a private or independent institution of
  higher education as defined by Section 61.003.
               (5)  "Supplemental material," with respect to a
  textbook, means instructional material developed to accompany the
  textbook, including printed materials, computer disks, website
  access, and electronically distributed materials, other than
  material that is part of an integrated textbook.
               (6)  "Textbook" means a book published primarily for
  instruction in connection with a particular course or courses
  offered to postsecondary students by an institution of higher
  education. The term includes any edition of a textbook or set of
  textbooks and any item considered supplemental specifically to the
  textbook, regardless of whether the textbook and supplemental item
  are sold together or separately.
               (7)  "Textbook bundle" means a textbook that is
  combined with other instructional material, such as another
  textbook or additional printed material, a computer disk, website
  access, or electronically distributed material, and that is
  packaged or otherwise offered for sale with that instructional
  material at a single price.  The term does not include a textbook
  that is combined with other instructional material if that material
  in its entirety is:
                     (A)  required to be offered for sale with or as
  part of the textbook, according to a third-party contractual
  agreement; or
                     (B)  interrelated with the content of the textbook
  to such a degree that any separation of the material from the
  textbook would render the textbook unusable for its intended
  purpose.
         Sec. 51.452.  DISSEMINATION OF COURSE SCHEDULE AND LIST OF
  REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS. (a)  Each institution of
  higher education shall:
               (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):
                     (A)  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
                     (B)  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)  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)  To allow for timely placement of textbook orders by
  students, each institution of higher education shall:
               (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.  
  To the extent practicable, an institution of higher education shall
  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)  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, the publisher shall 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)  A textbook publisher shall comply with this section with
  respect to a custom textbook only to the extent reasonably
  practicable.
         Sec. 51.455.  TEXTBOOK BUNDLES.  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 shall 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.  Subchapter I, Chapter 51, Education Code, as
  added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2012 fall semester.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 33 was passed by the House on April
  15, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 138, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 33 was passed by the Senate on May 23,
  2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0
  .
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor