| 1 | 1 | | 89R9137 ANG-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Buckley H.B. No. 5515 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to restrictions on freight and shipping costs included in |
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| 10 | 10 | | the price of instructional materials for public schools. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Section 31.151(a), Education Code, is amended to |
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| 13 | 13 | | read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) A publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) shall furnish any instructional material the |
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| 16 | 16 | | publisher or manufacturer offers in this state at a price that does |
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| 17 | 17 | | not exceed the lowest price at which the publisher offers that |
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| 18 | 18 | | instructional material for adoption or sale to any state, public |
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| 19 | 19 | | school, or school district in the United States; |
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| 20 | 20 | | (2) shall automatically reduce the price of |
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| 21 | 21 | | instructional material sold for use in a school district or |
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| 22 | 22 | | open-enrollment charter school to the extent that the price is |
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| 23 | 23 | | reduced elsewhere in the United States; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) shall provide any instructional material or |
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| 25 | 25 | | ancillary item free of charge in this state to the same extent that |
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| 26 | 26 | | the publisher or manufacturer provides the instructional material |
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| 27 | 27 | | or ancillary item free of charge to any state, public school, or |
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| 28 | 28 | | school district in the United States; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (4) may not include in the price of instructional |
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| 30 | 30 | | material a freight and shipping cost that: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (A) exceeds the actual cost of delivering the |
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| 32 | 32 | | instructional material, as determined based on the standard rate |
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| 33 | 33 | | published by the carrier for the specified delivery method of the |
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| 34 | 34 | | instructional material; or |
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| 35 | 35 | | (B) includes a handling or similar charge that is |
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| 36 | 36 | | not directly related to the shipment of physical copies of the |
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| 37 | 37 | | instructional material; |
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| 38 | 38 | | (5) [(4)] shall guarantee that each copy of |
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| 39 | 39 | | instructional material sold in this state is at least equal in |
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| 40 | 40 | | quality to copies of that instructional material sold elsewhere in |
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| 41 | 41 | | the United States and is free from factual error; |
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| 42 | 42 | | (6) [(5)] may not become associated or connected with, |
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| 43 | 43 | | directly or indirectly, any combination in restraint of trade in |
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| 44 | 44 | | instructional materials or enter into any understanding or |
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| 45 | 45 | | combination to control prices or restrict competition in the sale |
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| 46 | 46 | | of instructional materials for use in this state; |
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| 47 | 47 | | (7) [(6)] shall deliver instructional materials to a |
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| 48 | 48 | | school district or open-enrollment charter school; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (8) [(7)] shall, at the time an order for |
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| 50 | 50 | | instructional materials is acknowledged, provide to school |
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| 51 | 51 | | districts or open-enrollment charter schools an accurate shipping |
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| 52 | 52 | | date for instructional materials that are back-ordered; |
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| 53 | 53 | | (9) [(8)] shall guarantee delivery of instructional |
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| 54 | 54 | | materials at least 10 business days before the opening day of school |
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| 55 | 55 | | of the year for which the instructional materials are ordered if the |
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| 56 | 56 | | instructional materials are ordered by a date specified in the |
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| 57 | 57 | | sales contract; |
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| 58 | 58 | | (10) [(9)] shall submit to the State Board of |
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| 59 | 59 | | Education an affidavit certifying any instructional material the |
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| 60 | 60 | | publisher or manufacturer offers in this state to be free of factual |
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| 61 | 61 | | errors at the time the publisher executes the contract required by |
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| 62 | 62 | | Section 31.026; and |
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| 63 | 63 | | (11) [(10)] shall comply with all other standard terms |
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| 64 | 64 | | and conditions adopted by the State Board of Education for use in |
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| 65 | 65 | | contracts for the procurement of instructional materials under |
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| 66 | 66 | | Subsection (a-1). |
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| 67 | 67 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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