HCS HB 2048 -- TEXTBOOK TRANSPARENCY ACT

SPONSOR:  Kingery (Zimmerman)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass by consent" by the Committee on
Higher Education by a vote of 8 to 0.

This substitute establishes the Textbook Transparency Act which
requires textbook publishers to make the price, any substantial
content revision between the last two editions, copyright dates,
and the variety of formats for a text available, upon request, to
faculty members or textbook adopters at public higher education
institutions when the publisher provides information about their
products.  The substitute distinguishes between supplemental
material and integrated textbooks and requires a publisher to
make a textbook and supplemental material available separately
when selling the materials bundled together.  Where it is
feasible, public institutions of higher education must develop
policies allowing students to use financial aid that has not been
disbursed for tuition or fees to purchase textbooks at campus
bookstores.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2009, FY 2010, and
FY 2011.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that textbook prices have increased
steadily, revisions are issued more frequently, and materials
that sometimes go unused get bundled with required books.
Several states have moved to a fair market approach.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Zimmerman; Associated
Students of the University of Missouri; Missouri Family Network;
and Chris Miller, Student Government of Truman State University.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

OTHERS:  Others testifying on the bill say the bundling issue has
some aspects that need to be worked out.  The bill might help
with book buy-backs and could help guide the faculty's buying
decisions.

Testifying on the bill were Reed Elsevier; Association of
American Publishers; and University of Central Missouri.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:11 pm