BILL ANALYSIS
SJR 2
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 23, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
SJR 2 (Liu) - As Introduced: February 25, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: college textbook
affordability.
SUMMARY : Makes findings and declarations regarding the
importance of an educated workforce for economic recovery, the
need to ensure college affordability, the rising textbook costs,
and increasing financial aid needs; commends the United States
President and Congress for including the American Opportunity
Tax Credit in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, thereby making college more affordable by providing
financial relief to students and their families; and calls on
the State of California, when the state's economic conditions
improve, to adopt a similar higher education tax credit measure
that will support efforts to make college more affordable.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background : The Federal American Opportunity Tax
Credit modifies the existing Hope Credit for tax years 2009 and
2010, making the Hope Credit available to a broader range of
taxpayers, including many with higher incomes and those who owe
no tax. It also adds required course materials, such as
textbooks, to the list of qualifying expenses and allows the
credit to be claimed for four post-secondary education years
instead of two. Many of those eligible will qualify for the
maximum annual credit of $2,500 per student. The full credit is
available to individuals whose modified adjusted gross income is
$80,000 or less or $160,000 or less for married couples filing a
joint return.
Purpose of this resolution : According to the author, "A recent
report by the California State Auditor showed that increases in
textbook prices have significantly outpaced median household
income, making it more likely that some students will forgo or
delay attending college because of the financial burden.
Textbook costs have increased at twice the rate of inflation, in
addition to the cost of tuition increases." The author believes
SJR 2
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that "efforts to make the overall cost of attendance more
affordable, including the cost of textbooks, make economic sense
for California and the nation." The author argues that
"providing students and their families a means to lessen the
impact of the soaring costs of a college education through a
higher education tax credit will improve access and the
affordability of a college education."
Legislative efforts to reduce textbook costs : In recent years,
there have been several efforts to address the rising costs of
textbooks and other course materials, including:
SB 48 (Alquist), pending referral in the Assembly Rules
Committee, would require that any individual, firm, partnership,
or corporation that offers textbooks for sale at the University
of California, the California State University, and the
California Community Colleges (CCC), make them available for
sale in an electronic format, as specified, by January 1, 2020.
AB 317 (Solorio), pending in this committee, would require
campus bookstores and any person choosing course materials at a
public postsecondary education institution to post in the
bookstore or on the bookstore website, and in any course
material documents, as defined, the open textbook website
address www.collegeopentextbooks.org.
AB 2261 (Ruskin), Chapter 671, Statutes of 2008, authorized the
CCC Board of Governors to use existing resources to establish a
pilot program to provide resources for faculty and staff to
establish open education resource centers.
AB 1548 (Solorio), Chapter 574, Statutes of 2007, established
the Transparency in College Textbook Publishing Practices Act.
AB 2477 (Liu), Chapter 556, Statutes of 2004, requested textbook
publishers to take specified actions to reduce the cost of
college textbooks.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
SJR 2
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California Association of College Stores
California Faculty Association
California Postsecondary Education Commission
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960