Bill Text: TX HB33 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled

---

Bill Title: Relating to measures to increase the affordability of textbooks used for courses at public or private institutions of higher education.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/11 [HB33 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB33-Enrolled.html

---

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