BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1539
AUTHOR: Corbett
INTRODUCED: February 24, 2012
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: April 25, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: textbook information.
SUMMARY
This bill requires textbook publishers to provide to faculty at
the commencement of sales interactions specific information
about all products the publisher sells in the subject area.
BACKGROUND
The federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires
publishers (when providing information to faculty or others who
select course materials at an institution of higher education
receiving federal financial assistance) to include in writing:
1) The price at which the publisher would make the textbook or
supplemental material available to the campus bookstore
and, if available, the price at which the material is
available to the public.
2) The copyright dates of the three previous editions.
3) A description of the substantial content revisions made
between the current edition and the previous edition.
4) Whether the textbook or supplemental material is available
in any other format, including paperback and unbound.
The federal HEOA requires each institution of higher education
to:
1) Disclose in the institution's Internet course schedule, for
each course listed, the International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) and retail price of required and recommended college
textbooks and supplemental materials.
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2) Make available to a college bookstore the most accurate
information available regarding the course schedule and for
each course offered the ISBN, retail price, number of
students enrolled in the course, and the maximum student
enrollment for the course. (United States Code, Title 20,
Chapter 28, Section 1015(b))
The College Textbook Transparency Act requires, beginning
January 1, 2010:
1) Textbook publishers to print on the cover or within each
textbook a summary of the substantive content differences
between the new and prior editions, and the copyright date
of the previous edition.
2) Each campus bookstore at any public college or university
to post in its store or on its website a disclosure of its
retail pricing policy on new and used textbooks.
3) Each public college or university to encourage personnel
responsible for selecting course materials (typically
faculty) to place their orders with sufficient lead time to
enable the bookstore to confirm the availability of the
requested materials. (Education Code § 66406.7)
Current law requires:
1) The CSU and CCC, and encourages the UC, to work with the
academic senates of each segment to encourage faculty to
give consideration to the least costly practices in
assigning textbooks and to work with publishers and college
bookstores.
2) College bookstores to work with the academic senates of
each campus to review the process and timelines involved in
ordering and stocking textbooks and to create bundles and
packages of instructional materials that are economically
sound.
3) Urges textbook publishers to provide specific information
to faculty and post that information on the company's
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website, give preference to supplements rather than
producing a new edition and disclose the length of time the
current edition is intended to be in production. (EC §
66406)
4) Requires textbook publishers, by January 1, 2020, to make
the textbooks available, in whole or in part, for sale in
an electronic format. The electronic version of any
textbook must contain the same content as the printed
version and may be copy-protected. (EC § 66410)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires textbook publishers to provide to faculty at
the commencement of sales interactions specific information
about all products the publisher sells in the subject area.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires textbook publishers to provide to a prospective
purchaser of the textbook with all of the following:
a) A list of all the products offered for
sale by the publisher germane to the prospective
purchaser's subject area of interest.
b) The wholesale or retail price of the
product, and the estimated length of time the
publisher intends to keep the product on the market.
c) For each new edition, a list of the
substantial content differences or changes between the
new edition and the previous edition of the textbook.
2) Requires publishers to make the information available to a
prospective purchaser at the commencement of a sales
interaction, including but not limited to, a sales
interaction conducted in person, by telephone or
electronically.
3) Requires publishers to post the information on their
websites.
4) Defines the following:
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a) "Product" means each version of a
textbook, or set of textbooks, in a particular subject
area, including supplementals whether or not the
supplementals are sold separately or together with a
textbook.
b) "Publisher" has the same meaning as in
the College Textbook Transparency Act, which is any
publishing house, publishing firm, or publishing
company that publishes textbooks or other course
materials, specifically designed for postsecondary
instruction.
c) "Purchaser" means a faculty member of a
public or private postsecondary education institution
who selects the textbooks assigned to students.
d) "Textbook" has the same meaning as in
the College Textbook Transparency Act, which is any
book that contains printed material and is intended
for use as a source of study material for a class or
group of students, a copy of which is expected to be
available for the use of each of the students in that
class or group. "Textbook" does not include a novel.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "Increases in
textbook prices have outpaced median household income.
Textbook prices have steadily increased over the last four
years, at four times the rate of inflation. According to a
Bureau of State Audits report, on average, publishers
release a new or revised edition every three or four years,
with each one costing 12% more than the last. The report
also found that faculty often fail to consider the cost of
textbooks when making course selection. By having textbook
pricing information automatically available at the start of
a transaction, faculty would be able to make an informed
decision on what to purchase by comparing product prices
and differences in content."
2) Some duplication . Current law already requires publishers
to give to faculty (at both public and private
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universities) information about differences from prior
editions, and the price the textbook will be offered to the
campus bookstore and to the public. Publishers are not
required to disclose the estimated length of time
the product will be on the market, but publishers are
already required to disclose to faculty the copyright dates
of the three previous editions.
This bill essentially restates federal law with respect to
publishers providing specific information about textbooks,
and adds requirements that publishers provide to faculty a
list of the all products and the anticipated length the
product will be on the market. This bill also requires
publishers to list information about textbooks on their
websites.
3) List of all products . This bill requires publishers to
disclose to faculty all products offered for sale that are
germane to the faculty's subject area of interest. This
bill defines "product" to include each version of a
textbook or set of textbooks, including a supplemental item
whether or not the supplemental item is sold separately or
together with a textbook. Instructional materials may be
offered in formats other than print. Current law requires
publishers to disclose to faculty if textbooks are
available in other formats, such as paperback or unbound,
but is silent about digital formats. Staff recommends an
amendment to add to the definition of "product" a reference
to digital formats, thereby clarifying that publishers must
disclose to faculty all types and formats of available
products.
4) Time on the market . This bill requires publishers to
provide to faculty the estimated length of time the
publisher intends to keep the product on the market.
Publishers may not have a planned schedule for prospective
editions. Current law requires publishers to provide to
faculty the copyright dates of the three previous editions
of textbooks, so it's possible for a publisher or faculty
to identify if there is a pattern for the introduction of
new editions.
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5) Wholesale or retail price . This bill requires publishers
to provide to faculty the wholesale or retail price of the
product. It is necessary to make the distinction of
wholesale or retail (rather than wholesale and retail) due
to concerns about putting publishers at a competitive
disadvantage when releasing wholesale pricing information.
6) Federal report due in 2013 . The federal Higher Education
Opportunity Act requires the Comptroller General of the
United States to report, by July 1, 2013, on the
implementation of the requirements imposed upon
institutions of higher education, college bookstores and
publishers, and particularly examine:
a) The availability of college textbook information
on course schedules.
b) The provision of pricing information to faculty
by publishers.
c) The use of bundled and unbundled material.
d) The implementation of the HEOA by institutions of
higher education, including the costs and benefits to
such institutions and to students.
7) Related legislation . SB 1154 (Walters) is similar to this
bill regarding the disclosure of available digital formats.
SB 1154 is specific to K-12 instructional materials and is
scheduled to be heard by this Committee on April 25, 2012.
AB 2471 (Lara) requires the Trustees of the California State
University and the governing board of the California
Community Colleges, and urges the Regents of the University
of California and the governing body of each private
postsecondary educational institution that offers a
baccalaureate degree to adopt policies to prohibit the
assignment of an e-textbook unless that e-textbook complies
with various provisions. AB 2471 is pending in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 1328 (De Leon) requires a publisher that supplies textbooks
or other instructional material to a postsecondary
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institution or faculty to provide specific information
about that textbook or material using a standard XML or
comma-delimited format, or both, and requires publishers to
submit the data to the Multimedia Educational Resource for
Learning and Online Teaching program. SB 1328 is pending
in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1052 (Steinberg) establishes the California Open Education
Resources Council for the purpose of reducing textbook
costs for the 50 most widely taken lower division courses.
SB 1052 is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1053 (Steinberg) establishes the California Open Source
Digital Library for the purpose of housing open source
materials.
8) Prior legislation . SB 832 (Corbett, 2007) was nearly
identical to this bill. SB 832 was vetoed by the Governor,
whose veto message read:
I am supportive of efforts to address the cost of
college textbooks and share the concern that these
education costs have an impact on the
affordability of college for many students.
However, this bill focuses strictly on textbook
publisher policies and fails to recognize that the
affordability of textbooks is a shared
responsibility among publishers, college
bookstores, and faculty members.
Therefore, instead of this bill, I am signing
Assembly Bill 1548. Many of the same concepts in
SB 832 are included in AB 1548, but AB 1548
recognizes the shared responsibility and attempts
to address the issue in a more comprehensive
manner.
SUPPORT
Associated Students of the University of California, Davis
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office
California Faculty Association
CALPIRG
Community College League
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Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Kern Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
Rio Hondo Community College District
San Diego Community College District
University of California
West Kern Community College District
OPPOSITION
Association of American Publishers