BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2471
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Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2471 (Lara) - As Amended: May 8, 2012
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:7-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This requires e-textbooks used in courses at the state's
postsecondary institutions to include specified consumer
protections, and requires the institutions to adopt rules
consistent with these requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires an e-textbook assigned as required or
recommended reading in a course comply with the following:
a) Requires that the publisher allow full refund for a
purchased e-textbook up to 14 days from the date of
purchase.
b) Requires that the publisher provide the consumer
explicit digital rights management, including all of the
following:
i) Percentages of the e-textbook that can be printed,
be copied and pasted, and exported outside of the
electronic reading environment.
ii) The durability of any notes or highlights the
consumer creates.
iii) The duration of time that the consumer can access
the e-textbook.
2) Requires the Trustees of the California State University
(CSU) and the governing board of every community college
district, and urges the Regents of the University of
California (UC) and the governing body of each private
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postsecondary institution offering baccalaureate degrees to
develop and adopt rules, regulations, and procedures
mandating that e-textbooks comply with all of the above
requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)UC would initially need a one-quarter to one-half time
position at each campus to ensure faculty selection of
e-textbooks is in compliance with the adopted rules, thus
statewide costs would be in the range of $250,000 to $500,000
annually. Over time these costs would likely diminish as
publishers and faculty adjust to the requirements.
2)CSU . Assuming similar impacts as the lower range of UC costs,
CSU would incur ongoing costs of $575,000 initially, likely
diminishing over time.
3)CCC . Districts would incur one-time reimbursable
administrative costs associated with drafting the required
rules for consideration and adoption by the governing board.
Assuming an average of $5,000 for each of the 72 districts,
the statewide General Fund (Prop 98) cost would be $360,000.
Assuming ongoing costs to ensure compliance averaging $10,000
per district, statewide reimbursable costs would be $720,000
initially.
The above estimates assumes the bill's requirements apply only
to e-textbooks selected after adoption of rules by the governing
boards, which staff understands is consistent with the author's
intent. The community colleges, for example, identified
significantly higher costs if non-compliant e-textbooks already
in use had to be replaced upon adoption of the rules.
COMMENTS
Purpose . According to the author, a considerable and increasing
cost to students seeking higher education is textbooks.
California has taken several steps to address the rising costs
of textbooks, including, most recently, mandating that textbooks
be available by January 1, 2020 in electronic format. Electronic
textbooks have the potential to increase convenience and reduce
costs for students. However, students have encountered several
problems with online materials, including unclear refund
policies and disclosure of the terms of use. According to the
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author, this bill would ensure uniformity of practices among
publishers of electronic textbooks. The author argues that the
current lack of uniform practices often denies students
information and options they need to enable them to make fully
informed decisions regarding what can be an enormous portion of
their limited budgets.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081