If a bill introduced by a 69th District Assembly member becomes law, textbook publishers may have to disclose pricing information, summary differences between textbook revisions, and estimates of how long new editions will remain in print.

Assembly member Jose Solorio, the author of AB 1548, the Transparency in College Textbook Publishing Practices Act, introduced the bill that many college students hope will bring down the price of their textbooks.

In the bills introduction, AB 1548 states that textbook prices have climbed to levels that deny some students access to high-quality education and that California students spend an average of $900 per year on textbooks, an amount that exceeds tuition for many community college students.

Solorio’s bill would prohibit the sale of any textbook on a public university campus until certain requirements are met by the publishers. The disclosures include the price difference between bundled books and the same unbundled textbook, a summary of the substantive differences between the new edition and the prior edition, for new editions, an estimate of how long the new edition will remain in print, and the amount and recipient of any compensation provided to faculty or administrators as inducement to adopt particular textbooks for university courses. This does not include sample copies or royalties.

Kevin Chak, Skyline bookstore manager, agrees that the bundled book dilemma can be confusing, and believes that publishers, faculty and the bookstore must work together.“Bundled books that contain workbooks and CDs do not bring in near as much as their upfront cost when buy back time comes around,” said Chak. “Sometimes there isn’t a clear cut answer. Faculty needs to look at several plans of action when it comes to buying books and plan for buy back options and the use of CDs and workbooks,” said Chak.

As far as revisions are concerned, Chak believes that very little revision is needed for some books and questions whether publishers and schools should bare the cost of technological books, such as computer manuals or should the manufacturer of the computers or software bare the burden.

“If there is a major break through such as the Human Genome project, I can see the need for a revised textbook,” said Chak.

Chak does have some concerns about the bill. “In a worse case scenario, publishers could stop selling books to states that have too many restrictions.”

But Chris Vaeth, Director of Special Projects for Greenlining.org who issued a March 14 press release about Solorio’s bill doesn’t expect that to be a problem. “California is such a large state that we deal with five major publishers on a routine basis. We don’t expect that to be a problem,” said Vaeth.

Vaeth says the bill is still in the Assembly having passed the first round with the higher education committee with a vote of five to zero with two abstentions. The bill goes to a final vote on April 24 before moving to the senate.

AB 1548 has been determined to be a state-mandated local program that would impose new duties on community college districts. But the state Constitution requires the reimbursement of local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.