Bill Text: CA SB1328 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Postsecondary education: textbooks.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-07-03 - Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [SB1328 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1328-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1328 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Section Sections
66407.5 , 66407.6, and 66407.8 to the Education Code,
relating to postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1328, as amended, De León. Postsecondary education: textbooks.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the
4 segments of the higher education system in the state. These
segments include the 3 public segments: the University of California,
which is administered by the Regents of the University of
California, the California State University, which is administered by
the Trustees of the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors
of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent
institutions of higher education constitute the other segment.
Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the
University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by
resolution, to make them applicable.
Existing law urges textbook publishers to take specified actions
aimed at reducing the amounts that postsecondary education students
currently pay for textbooks. Existing law requires the Trustees of
the California State University and the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges, and requests the Regents of the
University of California, among other things, to work with the
academic senates of each respective segment to encourage faculty to
give consideration to the least costly practices in assigning
textbooks, to encourage faculty to disclose to students how new
editions of textbooks are different from previous editions and the
cost to students for textbooks selected, to review procedures for
faculty to inform college and university bookstores of textbook
selections, and to encourage faculty to work closely with publishers
and college and university bookstores in creating bundles and
packages that are economically sound and deliver cost savings to
students.
Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature to encourage
private colleges and universities to work with their respective
academic senates and to encourage faculty to consider practices in
selecting textbooks that will result in the lowest costs to students.
This bill would require a publisher that supplies textbooks or
other instructional material to a postsecondary educational
institution, as defined to include both public and private
postsecondary educational institutions, or to a faculty member of a
postsecondary educational institution, to provide information about
that textbook or item of instructional material in a specified order
using a standard XML or comma-delimited format.
This bill would encourage a postsecondary educational institution
to provide a textbook adoption search engine, as specified, for
purposes of discovery, evaluation, and selection of course materials
that allows faculty or course coordinators to view, compare, and
contrast textbooks and other course materials and to communicate
adoption choices to the appropriate procurement staff and colleagues.
The bill would, for a postsecondary educational institution that
provides the faculty textbook adoption search engine, require an
institutional bookstore, as defined, to provide course and adoption
information in an open protocol, as defined and specified, to allow
an outside organization or company full and free access to specified
information. The bill also would encourage a postsecondary
educational institution that currently provides a faculty textbook
adoption search engine to comply with the specified requirements.
This bill would require an institutional bookstore to provide a
student textbook comparison engine, as defined, on its Internet Web
site to demonstrate the price difference between a textbook purchased
through the bookstore and the same textbook purchased through an
online competitor, which will enable students to ensure that they are
purchasing needed textbooks at the best price. The bill would
encourage, but not require, institutional bookstores at the
University of California to comply with these provisions.
To the extent new requirements would be placed on community
college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 66407.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
66407.5. (a) A publisher that supplies textbooks or other
instructional material to a postsecondary educational institution or
to a faculty member of a postsecondary educational institution shall
provide the following information about that textbook or item of
instructional material using a standard XML or comma-delimited
format, or both, in the order listed below:
(1) Book title.
(2) Author.
(3) Publisher.
(4) ISBN.
(5) Retail price.
(6) Edition.
(7) Copyright date.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) "Comma-delimited" means a type of data format in which each
piece of data is separated by a comma.
(2) "ISBN" means the International Standard Book Number, a numeric
commercial book identifier.
(3) "Postsecondary educational institution" includes both private
and public postsecondary educational institutions.
(4) "XML" means Extensible Markup Language, which is designed to
transport and store data.
SEC. 2. Section 66407.6 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
66407.6. A postsecondary educational institution, as defined in
Section 66407.5, is encouraged to provide a faculty textbook adoption
search engine for purposes of discovery, evaluation, and selection
of course materials that allows faculty or course coordinators to
view, compare, and contrast textbooks and other course materials
within a given subject area and to communicate their adoption choices
to the appropriate procurement staff and colleagues.
(a) A postsecondary educational institution that provides a
faculty textbook adoption search engine shall do all of the
following:
(1) Seek out a third-party entity that will create and implement
the faculty textbook adoption search engine free of charge to the
postsecondary educational institution.
(2) Ensure that the faculty textbook adoption search engine
includes all of the following:
(A) An automated warning system that provides faculty and course
coordinators with information on both of the following:
(i) Textbook adoption deadlines and the potential costs to
students stemming from late adoption.
(ii) Potential consequences related to textbook bundling and
customization that may impact student buyback or resale options.
(B) The ability to produce reports that include, but are not
limited to, a cost index by subject area, each faculty member's place
within the cost index, and the timeliness and average on-time rating
for faculty adoption submissions. Upon approval of the faculty, the
reports may be accessible to department chairs, school
administrators, and state officials.
(3) Ensure that the institutional bookstore, as defined in Section
66407.8, provides the course and adoption information pursuant to
subdivision (a) in an open protocol, using either a comma delimited
format, as defined in Section 66407.5, or an application programming
interface format (API), that allows an outside organization or
company full and free access to the information, including, but not
limited to, the department, course names, course sections, teachers
of the courses, and the title and ISBN, as defined in Section
66407.5, of each book or material required for each course.
(A) An institutional bookstore shall provide written instructions
for an outside organization or company to access the course and
adoption information and post the instructions on the institutional
bookstore's Internet Web site.
(B) Information collected by the institutional bookstore shall be
made available to other parties at the same time as provided to the
bookstore and shall be posted on the bookstore premises or on the
bookstore's Internet Web site.
(b) A postsecondary educational institution that instituded a
faculty textbook adoption search engine prior to January 1, 2013, is
encouraged to comply with the requirements set forth in paragraphs
(2) and (3) of subdivision (a).
(c) The following definitions apply to this section:
(1) "Application programming interface" or "API" means a type of
data format that allows software components to communicate with each
other.
(2) "Open protocol" means a standard way to exchange requests and
responses that is publicly available and has various rights of use
associated with it.
SEC. 3. Section 66407.8 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
66407.8. (a) An institutional bookstore shall provide a student
textbook price comparison engine on its Internet Web site to
demonstrate the price difference between a textbook purchased through
the bookstore and the same textbook purchased through an online
competitor, which will enable students to ensure that they are
purchasing needed textbooks at the best price.
(b) The following definitions apply to this section:
(1) "Institutional bookstore" means a bookstore that is the
official bookstore of a public or private postsecondary educational
institution in the state. The institutional bookstore may be owned
and operated by the institution, or operated in a space that is
leased by the institution to a bookstore management company.
(2) "Student textbook price comparison engine" means an online
tool that displays the price difference between a textbook offered by
an institutional bookstore and by online competitors and that
provides a link through which a student may purchase a textbook from
an online competitor if he or she desires to do so. The student
textbook price comparison engine shall include at least two online
competitors for each textbook offered by the institutional bookstore,
or a lesser number if two online competitors do not exist.
(c) Institutional bookstores at the University of California are
encouraged, but not required, to comply with this section.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
