BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 146|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 146
Author: Mendoza (D)
Amended: 9/1/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 5-1, 6/17/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Simitian, Wyland
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Maldonado, Padilla
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-22, 4/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Instructional materials: delivery
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes a publisher or manufacturer
liable for damages if it fails to deliver instructional
materials within 60 days of the receipt of a purchase order
from a school district, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/1/09 limit the application of
the bill's provisions to districts with fewer than 25,000
pupils enrolled.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires an instructional
materials publisher or manufacturer to guarantee delivery
of textbooks and instructional materials prior to the
opening of school in the year in which the textbooks and
instructional materials are to be used, provided that
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materials are ordered by the date specified in the
contract.
This bill:
1. Provides that if a publisher or manufacturer fails to
deliver instructional materials within 60 days of the
receipt of a purchase order from a school district and
the publisher or manufacturer has not received prior
written approval from the district for a delay in
delivery, the publisher or manufacturer shall be
liable for damages in the amount of $500 for each
working day that the order is delayed beyond
60-calendar days.
2. Specifies that if late delivery results from natural
disasters, terrorist attacks, acts of war, or worker
strikes that prevent the normal transit of
instructional materials, or there is a delay in the
implementation of governing board requirements, the
publisher or manufacturer shall not be held liable.
3. Prohibits a publisher or manufacturer from being
liable for an amount greater than $20,000 for any
individual purchase order placed by a school district
pursuant to this subdivision.
4. Requires districts seeking to recover damages
pursuant to this bill to give the publisher or
manufacturer written notification of the actual
delivery date of the instructional materials and the
date upon which damages began to accrue.
5. Applies only to contracts with districts enrolling
25,000 or fewer pupils.
Comments
In August 2004, the state entered into a settlement
agreement in the Williams v. California ( Williams ) case
that required the state to ensure, among other items, that
pupils have access to reasonably current textbooks and
instructional materials, in useable condition, in each core
subject to use in class and to take home. School districts
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are required to make every attempt to prioritize the
provision of instructional materials to schools affected by
the Williams settlement. Nevertheless, the author suggests
that there is no incentive for publishers to make sure
textbooks are delivered on time upon a district placing a
purchase order. This bill provides school districts a tool
that can help them fulfill the requirements of the Williams
settlement.
A prior version of Section 9530 of Title 5 of the
California Code of Regulations imposed penalties on
publishers that failed to deliver instructional materials
within 60 days of the receipt of a purchase order. Because
there was no statutory authority for districts to impose
these penalties on publishers, a recent revision of the
Title 5 Regulations included the deletion of these penalty
provisions. The penalties proposed by this bill are
identical to the penalties in the previous Title 5
Regulations.
According to the author's office, "Ensuring that our youth
are equipped with the necessary learning tools should be
our primary goal so that they can be properly educated. AB
146 helps accomplish this goal by holding the publishers or
manufacturers of K-8 instructional materials accountable to
the previous California [Code of Regulations]."
Prior Legislation
A similar bill, AB 357 (Mendoza) of 2008, would have made a
publisher or manufacturer liable for damages if it fails to
deliver instructional materials within 60 days of the
receipt of a purchase order from a school district. AB 357
was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the following
veto message:
While I am supportive of efforts to ensure that school
districts have instructional materials available for
their students on a timely basis, this bill is
unnecessary. Districts may enter into contractual
agreements with publishers and can negotiate any level
of penalty based on a variety of contract terms, even
without statutory mandate.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Antioch Unified School District
Association of California School Administrators
California Federation of Teachers
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/2/09)
Governor's Office of the Secretary of Education
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees writes, "AFSCME supports
this bill because instructional materials are key to
classroom instruction and if these materials are not
received in a timely manner, schools cannot do their job
properly. Late delivery of instructional materials impacts
a teacher's ability to properly prepare for classroom
instruction and may affect the schedule of classroom
learning."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Governor's Office of the
Secretary of Education refers to the veto message of AB 357
why they are opposed. They state that districts purchase
directly from publishers and should negotiate any terms
related to damages and delays in deliveries.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee,
Block, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Carter, Chesbro, Coto, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada,
Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Conway, Cook,
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DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Hagman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Niello, Nielsen, Silva,
Smyth, Audra Strickland, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Davis, De La Torre,
Hall, Ma, Tran
DLW:nl 9/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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