Establishes the textbook transparency act

BILL NUMBER:A10386

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to estab- lishing the textbook transparency act

Purpose

The purpose of the legislation is to add transparency to the process of purchasing textbooks, and to provide institutions of higher education, and faculty members the knowledge needed to avoid unwarranted expendi- tures.

Summary of provisions

Section one amends the education law by adding a new article 15, the textbook transparency act. The legislation requires college textbook publishers to provide educational institutions and their facility with the following information upon request:

* A price at which the publisher would make the product available to the campus bookstore.

* A list of the substantial revisions between the current textbook and a previous textbook.

* Copyright dates of all previous editions in the preceding ten years.

* Whether the products are available in other formats, such as paperback and unbound, including the price at which the bookseller would make the textbooks available to the campus bookstore in such varied formats.

* Supplemental material that may be bundled or attached to a textbook, such as a computer disk, access to a special website, or study guides that are sold as part of the textbook, or are not a component of the textbook, and are intended to be sold individually, separate from the textbook.

Justifications

The costs for secondary education have risen over the last decade to astronomical heights. The average annual cost for tuition, room, and board for the 2007-2008 academic year for a 4-year public university was estimated at $13,434, and $30,393 for private universities. This is in comparison to 2001-2002 tuition, room, and board of $9,196 for public universities and $22,896 for private universities. Tuition costs increase annually and the price for books is also on that upward spiral. (See, http://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=76.)

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, in 2003-2004 students purchased approximately $6 billion of new and used textbooks. Those figures derive from an average amount paid for textbooks of $898

per student, and amounted to a price increase of 186 percent over 1986's prices.

The ever-increasing cost of higher education directly affects that abil- ity of students to better their lives and achieve their dreams. There- fore, we must work to lower costs where possible, which this legislation does by increasing the transparency of the process by which textbooks are sold. (See, http://www .gao.gov/new.items/d05806.pdf.)

By increasing the transparency of the textbook selection, pricing and "add-ons" process, this legislation will provide faculty members and schools with the information necessary to make more cost effective choices for the students, and it will empower students to buy their textbooks in a far more cost-effective manner by providing them with information on pricing and change of edition information.

New York is not the first state to put forward legislation of this type. In 2007, the State of Washington enacted the "College Transparency Act," as did California. (See, 2008 Mich.St.L.Rev. 637 (Summer); and see http://www.washpirgstudents.org/news/recentnews/ governor-signs-col- lege-textbook-transparency-act; see, also, http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/0708/bill/asm/ab1501-1550/ab 1548 bill 20071013 chaptered.html.)

Like Washington and California, New York needs to increase the transpar- ency and accountability of the textbook purchase process in its insti- tutions of higher education.

Legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications

No fiscal implications.

Local fiscal implications

No local fiscal implications.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.