Full Text of HB3241 98th General Assembly
HB3241 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 HB3241 Introduced , by Rep. Kenneth Dunkin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| |
Creates the Accountability in College Textbook Publishing Practices Act. Provides that if a publisher provides a faculty member or entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution of higher education with information regarding a college textbook or supplemental material, the publisher shall include specified information in its communication. Sets forth requirements for when a publisher provides a faculty member or entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution with the price at which the publisher would make a college textbook or supplemental material available to the institution's campus bookstore. Provides that a publisher that sells a college textbook and any supplemental material as a bundle shall also make the college textbook and each item of supplemental material available as separate and unbundled items at separate prices. Provides that if a faculty member or entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution directs a publisher to compile a custom textbook, the publisher shall provide the price at which the publisher would make the custom textbook available to the campus bookstore. Contains an enforcement provision.
|
| |
| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
|
| | | HB3241 | | LRB098 10081 NHT 40240 b |
|
| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Accountability in College Textbook Publishing Practices Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the | 7 | | following:
| 8 | | (1) It is critical for the future health of the economy | 9 | | of this State to support the education of its youth so that | 10 | | they can attain the degrees and credentials they need to | 11 | | enter the evolving workforce.
| 12 | | (2) While more than 80% of the 23,000,000 jobs to be | 13 | | created nationwide over the next 10 years will require | 14 | | postsecondary education, only 36% of all 18 to 24-year-olds | 15 | | are currently enrolled in postsecondary educational | 16 | | institutions.
| 17 | | (3) Students in this State are struggling to enroll in | 18 | | postsecondary educational institutions due to finances as, | 19 | | according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office | 20 | | (GAO), tuition and fees have increased at an average rate | 21 | | of 7% annually, while other prices have risen at only about | 22 | | 3% annually.
| 23 | | (4) High college textbook costs further add to this |
| | | HB3241 | - 2 - | LRB098 10081 NHT 40240 b |
|
| 1 | | financial burden. The College Board reports that during the | 2 | | 2011-2012 academic year the average student spent an | 3 | | estimated $1,168 for course materials, including college | 4 | | books and supplies.
| 5 | | (5) The College Board finds that this figure | 6 | | constitutes 6.1% of the estimated annual costs of education | 7 | | for the typical resident student at a 4-year university, | 8 | | and the GAO finds that at community colleges, college | 9 | | textbooks can comprise 75% of total student costs.
| 10 | | (6) As a result, a survey conducted by the Student | 11 | | Public Interest Research Groups found that 7 in 10 students | 12 | | reported foregoing the purchase of a textbook because of | 13 | | its cost even though 78% believed it could hurt their | 14 | | academic performance.
| 15 | | (7) The Section of the federal Higher Education | 16 | | Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315), passed by Congress in | 17 | | 2008, concerning textbook information sought to decrease | 18 | | the costs of course materials for students by enhancing | 19 | | transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, | 20 | | purchase, sale, and use of course materials.
| 21 | | (8) This Section of the Higher Education Opportunity | 22 | | Act lacks enforcement mechanisms and does not serve to | 23 | | decrease costs to students as well as it could.
| 24 | | (9) Adding enforcement measures in this State to | 25 | | complement the existing Section of the Higher Education | 26 | | Opportunity Act concerning textbook information could more |
| | | HB3241 | - 3 - | LRB098 10081 NHT 40240 b |
|
| 1 | | effectively help to lower student expenditures on | 2 | | textbooks and to ensure that students have access to the | 3 | | textbooks they need to receive the highest quality | 4 | | education possible.
| 5 | | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
| 6 | | "Bundle" means one or more college textbooks or other | 7 | | supplemental learning materials that may be packaged together | 8 | | to be sold as course material for one price.
| 9 | | "Campus bookstore" means the bookstore on the campus of or | 10 | | otherwise associated with an institution of higher education.
| 11 | | "College textbook" means a textbook or set of textbooks | 12 | | used for or in conjunction with a course at an institution of | 13 | | higher education.
| 14 | | "Custom textbook" means a college textbook that is compiled | 15 | | by a publisher at the direction of a faculty member or other | 16 | | person or adopting entity in charge of selecting course | 17 | | materials at an institution of higher education and may | 18 | | include, alone or in combination, items such as selections from | 19 | | original instructor materials, previously copyrighted | 20 | | publisher materials, copyrighted, third-party works, and | 21 | | elements unique to a specific institution, such as | 22 | | commemorative editions.
| 23 | | "Institution" means an institution of higher education in | 24 | | this State.
| 25 | | "Integrated textbook" means a college textbook that is |
| | | HB3241 | - 4 - | LRB098 10081 NHT 40240 b |
|
| 1 | | combined with supplemental materials developed by a third party | 2 | | that, by third-party contractual agreement, may not be offered | 3 | | by publishers separately from the college textbook with which | 4 | | the supplemental materials are combined. "Integrated textbook" | 5 | | also means a textbook that is combined with supplemental | 6 | | materials that are so interrelated with the content of the | 7 | | textbook that the separation of the textbook from the | 8 | | supplemental materials would render the textbook unusable for | 9 | | its intended purpose. | 10 | | "Publisher" means a publisher of college textbooks or | 11 | | supplemental materials that markets college textbooks or | 12 | | supplemental materials to faculty members at institutions of | 13 | | higher education.
| 14 | | "Substantial content" means parts of a college textbook, | 15 | | such as new chapters, additional eras of time, new themes, or | 16 | | new subject matter.
| 17 | | "Supplemental material" means educational material | 18 | | developed to accompany a college textbook, which may include | 19 | | printed materials, computer disks, Internet website access, | 20 | | and electronically distributed materials.
| 21 | | "Writing" includes electronic communications.
| 22 | | Section 15. Requirements.
| 23 | | (a) If a publisher provides a faculty member or entity in | 24 | | charge of selecting course materials at an institution with | 25 | | information regarding a college textbook or supplemental |
| | | HB3241 | - 5 - | LRB098 10081 NHT 40240 b |
|
| 1 | | material, the publisher shall include all of the following | 2 | | information, in writing, in its communication:
| 3 | | (1) The price at which the publisher would make the | 4 | | college textbook or supplemental material available to the | 5 | | institution's campus bookstore.
| 6 | | (2) The copyright dates of the 3 previous editions of | 7 | | the college textbook in the preceding 10 years, if any.
| 8 | | (3) The substantial content revisions made between the | 9 | | current edition of the college textbook or supplemental | 10 | | material and the previous edition, if any.
| 11 | | (4) Whether the college textbook or supplemental | 12 | | material is available in any other format, including | 13 | | paperback or unbound, and the price at which the publisher | 14 | | would make the college textbook or supplemental material in | 15 | | the other format available to the institution's campus | 16 | | bookstore.
| 17 | | (b) If a publisher provides a faculty member or entity in | 18 | | charge of selecting course materials at an institution with the | 19 | | price at which the publisher would make the college textbook or | 20 | | supplemental material available to the institution's campus | 21 | | bookstore, as required by this Section, the publisher shall do | 22 | | both of the following:
| 23 | | (1) Make the college textbook or supplemental material | 24 | | available to that institution's campus bookstore at or | 25 | | below that price for at least 6 months.
| 26 | | (2) Notify the faculty member or entity in charge of |
| | | HB3241 | - 6 - | LRB098 10081 NHT 40240 b |
|
| 1 | | selecting course materials and the campus bookstore, in | 2 | | writing, of any increase in the price of the textbook or | 3 | | supplemental material, including the amount of the | 4 | | increase, at least 45 days in advance of the increase.
| 5 | | (c) A publisher that sells a college textbook and any | 6 | | supplemental material as a bundle shall also make the college | 7 | | textbook and each item of supplemental material available as | 8 | | separate and unbundled items at separate prices, except that | 9 | | this subsection (c) does not apply to integrated textbooks.
| 10 | | (d) If a faculty member or entity in charge of selecting | 11 | | course materials at an institution directs a publisher to | 12 | | compile a custom textbook, the publisher shall provide, in | 13 | | writing, prior to accepting an order for the custom textbook, | 14 | | the price at which the publisher would make the custom textbook | 15 | | available to the campus bookstore.
| 16 | | (e) A publisher violating any of the provisions of this | 17 | | Section may be enjoined by any court of competent jurisdiction | 18 | | upon action for injunction, and the court shall, after proof of | 19 | | violation, issue an injunction or other appropriate order | 20 | | restraining the publisher's conduct.
|
|