New York Senate Bill S06208 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6208 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 6, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "free resources for equitable education (FREE) act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "free resources for equitable education (FREE) act". 3 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 716 to read 4 as follows: 5 § 716. Free resources for equitable education (FREE) act. 1. As used 6 in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings, 7 unless referenced otherwise: 8 (a) "general education" refers to courses which do not expressly 9 satisfy major specific requirements, including pre-requisite courses; 10 (b) "institutions of higher education" means the state university of 11 New York or institutions recognized and approved by the regents of the 12 University of the State of New York, which provide a course of study 13 leading to the granting of a post-secondary degree or diploma; 14 (c) "low textbook cost (LTC)" means the designation assigned to cours- 15 es to demonstrate that required textbooks do not cost more than forty 16 dollars; 17 (d) "major specific" refers to any course that is considered expressly 18 necessary to the continued development and teachings of key concepts 19 within a given major; 20 (e) "textbook" means any textbook that is adopted for use in a given 21 course, as determined by the presiding faculty or faculty members or 22 entity charged with selecting such textbooks; and 23 (f) "zero textbook cost (ZTC)" means the designation assigned to 24 courses to demonstrate that it does not require the purchase of any 25 textbook. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10641-01-5 
 S. 6208 2 1 2. All general education courses offered by an institution of higher 2 education in which textbooks are assigned by a professor or other facul- 3 ty member shall have a ZTC or LTC designation. 4 3. Twenty-five percent of all major specific courses offered by an 5 institution of higher education in which textbooks are assigned by a 6 professor or other faculty member shall have a ZTC or LTC designation. 7 4. Institutions of higher education shall determine which courses and 8 the corresponding textbooks are designated ZTC or LTC. 9 5. ZTC and LTC designations shall be clearly visible and easily acces- 10 sible by students in any course information materials or course enroll- 11 ment system. If a course designation changes for any reason, students 12 shall be allowed to secure an appropriate replacement course or discon- 13 tinue any course without any financial or other institutional penalty. 14 6. Institutions of higher education shall institute this section in a 15 manner that does not redistribute the financial cost of such textbook 16 designations on students including but not limited to assigning more 17 textbooks in other courses or increasing tuition or students' fees. 18 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 19 it shall have become a law; provided, however, the amendments to article 20 15-B of the education law made by section two of this act shall not 21 affect the repeal of such article and shall be deemed repealed there- 22 with.