BILL ANALYSIS
AB 146
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 146 (Mendoza)
As Amended September 1, 2009
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |52-22|(April 2, 2009) |SENATE: |22-14|(September 3, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |53-21|(September 9, | | | |
| | |2009) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : 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.
The Senate amendments:
1)Provide that if late delivery results from a delay in
implementation of governing board requirements neither the
publisher nor the manufacturer shall be held liable.
2)Specify that the provisions of this bill shall apply only to
contracts with school districts enrolling 25,000 or fewer
pupils.
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 materials are ordered by the date
specified in the contract.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was similar to the version
passed by the Senate; however, t applied to contracts with any
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district in the state regardless of enrollment.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
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 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.
The amendments adopted in the Senate narrow the application of
this bill to certain school districts. The late delivery
penalty would apply only when publishers fail to deliver
textbooks on time to school districts that enroll less than
25,000 pupils. According to data in the California Department
of Education's Internet Web site, there are currently 836
districts that enroll less than 25,000 pupils and a total of
1,042 school districts in the state.
The author states, "Ensuring that our youth are equipped with
the necessary learning tools should be our primary goal so that
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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]."
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."
Prior legislation: An identical measure, AB 357 (Mendoza) of
2008, 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. 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."
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"This bill is unnecessary since districts of any size 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. I vetoed a similar bill last year on
the same basis."
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003322