SACRAMENTO – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed AB 1548, authored by Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim), which would curb the dramatic increases in the prices of college textbooks by placing additional disclosure requirements on publishers, colleges, faculty and bookstores. 

“As the former student body president of UC Irvine, I know firsthand that high textbook prices are a huge issue for college students.  AB 1548 provides a comprehensive approach to controlling college textbook prices by placing additional disclosure requirements on all parties involved in creating the high prices.  That’s why the bill was supported by the California State Student Association, the California Teacher’s Association, the Association of American Publishers and the California Postsecondary Education Commission,” said Assemblyman Solorio.

“Too many of our students face tremendous financial obstacles to higher education, including the costs of textbooks.  AB 1548 will create the transparency that students need to make good textbook purchasing decisions in a time of skyrocketing prices,” said Assemblyman Solorio.

California college students currently spend an average of nearly $1,000 per year on textbooks.  According to a 2005 report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), college textbook prices have increased by 186% between 1986 and 2004—nearly triple the rate of inflation over the same period. 

The cost of textbooks in many cases now outweighs the cost of college fees, especially if you go to a community college.  At $1,000 per year, clearly the high price of textbooks may begin to scare students from believing they can afford a college education. 

“To craft the bill, I had to pull all the major stakeholders together to reach a common solution, which included some of what they liked and some of what they did not like,” said Assemblyman Solorio.  AB 1548 asks all parties involved to do something.

AB 1548 will provide students with the information they need to make good textbook purchasing decisions, as well as arm students with information to hold publishers, college institutions, bookstores and faculty accountable for their actions.

Under AB 1548 (Solorio) publishers are required to:

● Print on or inside the book a list of substantive changes made to the current edition of the book from previous editions.  

● Provide, upon request by faculty, a list of textbooks wholesale prices, copyright dates of previous editions, and list of substantive changes from prior editions.  

● Print on the exterior of instructor edition textbooks that the book is an instructor’s copy and not for resale.  

Postsecondary college institutions and textbook adopters, including faculty, are required to:

● Consider cost in the adoption of textbooks.

● Order textbooks with sufficient lead time.

● Not demand or receive anything of value for adopting specific course materials required for coursework or instruction.

● Not sell instructor copies.

Bookstores are required to:

● Post in their stores or on their Websites a disclosure of their new and used textbook retail pricing policy.

In vetoing a related measure (SB 832), the Governor Schwarzenegger stated the “bill focuses strictly on textbook publisher policies and fails to recognize that the affordability of textbooks is a shared responsibility among publishers, college bookstores, and faculty members.”

“Therefore, instead of this bill, I am signing Assembly Bill 1548.  Many of the same concepts in SB 832 are in AB 1548, but AB 1548 recognizes the shared responsibility and attempts to address the issue in a more comprehensive manner,” wrote the Governor.

The finished product, AB 1548, is something that everyone can be proud of because it is the first serious measure in California that will bring sunshine to the pricing and marketing of college textbooks.
 
Assemblyman Jose Solorio represents the Sixty-Ninth Assembly District, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana.  For more information about Assemblyman Solorio you can visit www.assembly.ca.gov/solorio.