82R343 KEL-D
 
  By: Branch H.B. No. 33
 
 
 
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.
         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)  "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.
               (2)  "Faculty member" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 51.917.
               (3)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 61.003.
               (4)  "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.
               (5)  "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.
               (6)  "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.
               (7)  "University-affiliated bookstore" means a
  bookstore that:
                     (A)  sells textbooks for courses offered to
  postsecondary students 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.  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)  at the time required by Subsection (b)(2), publish
  the course schedule and textbook list in hard copy format and on the
  institution's Internet website and make the information available
  to university-affiliated bookstores and other bookstores that
  generally serve the students of the institution; and
               (4)  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)  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
  university-affiliated 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
  university-affiliated 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.