By: Ellis, et al. S.B. No. 145
(In the Senate - Filed November 10, 2008; February 10, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
April 29, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 29, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 145 By: West
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the sale by textbook publishers of bundled
instructional material for use by students at public institutions
of higher education; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.9701 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.9701. TEXTBOOK BUNDLES. (a) In this section:
(1) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(3) "Textbook" means a printed book published
primarily for the instruction of postsecondary students.
(4) "Textbook bundle" means a textbook offered for
sale in combination with other instructional material, such as:
(A) additional printed material;
(B) a computer disk;
(C) website access; or
(D) electronically distributed material.
(5) "University-affiliated bookstore" means a store
that:
(A) sells instructional material, regardless of
whether the store is located on the campus of an institution of
higher education; and
(B) is operated by or with the approval of the
institution through ownership, a management agreement, a lease or
rental agreement, or otherwise.
(b) A publisher that offers a textbook bundle for sale
directly to students enrolled at an institution of higher education
or to a university-affiliated bookstore for resale shall:
(1) also offer for sale to the students or bookstore,
as applicable, each individual item of instructional material as a
separate, unbundled item; and
(2) price the individual items in the textbook bundle
so that the total cost of purchasing all of the items included in
the textbook bundle individually would be the same, or as
reasonably close to the same as practicable, as the price of the
textbook bundle.
(c) An institution of higher education shall:
(1) maintain a record of any publisher that violates
Subsection (b); and
(2) submit the record to the coordinating board, in
the time and manner established by coordinating board rule, to use
in determining whether to assess an administrative penalty under
Subsection (d).
(d) The coordinating board shall adopt rules under which the
coordinating board may impose a reasonable administrative penalty
against a publisher that violates this section. The rules must
require the coordinating board to provide for a hearing to
determine whether a penalty is to be imposed and the amount of any
penalty. The coordinating board shall base the amount of any
penalty on:
(1) the seriousness of the violation;
(2) any history of a previous violation;
(3) the amount necessary to deter a future violation;
(4) any effort to correct the violation; and
(5) any other matter justice requires.
(e) The attorney general may bring an action to collect an
administrative penalty that is not paid as directed by the
coordinating board.
(f) Revenue collected from administrative penalties imposed
under this section shall be deposited to the credit of the general
revenue fund and may be appropriated only to fund the TEXAS grant
program administered under Subchapter M, Chapter 56.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
instructional material offered for sale on or after September 1,
2010.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.
* * * * *