NY State Senate Bill 2009-S5941

Senate Bill S5941

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Requires institutions of higher education to post full course listings with required textbooks on their websites at least six weeks prior to the start of classes

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to higher education
Jun 19, 2009	referred to rules

2009-S5941 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §721, Ed L

2009-S5941 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires institutions of higher education to post full course listings with required textbooks on their websites at least six weeks prior to the start of classes.

2009-S5941 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S5941

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring
institutions of higher education to post full course listings with
required textbooks on their websites at least six weeks prior to the
start of classes


 PURPOSE :

To allow students time to comparison shop for the best textbook prices
by requiring institutions of higher education to post full course
listings with required textbooks on their websites at least six weeks
prior to the start of classes.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 adds a new subdivision 1-a to section 721 of the education
law to require institutions of higher education to post full course
listings with required textbooks on their websites at least six weeks
prior to the start of classes. Such posted text book lists shall
include the specific International Standard Book Number (ISBN), title,
author, edition and publisher of each required textbook. The campus
bookstore price for each required textbook shall be posted if the

institution of higher education has a campus bookstore. If a different
textbook edition or printing is acceptable instead of a required
textbook. the ISBN, title, author and publisher of such edition or
printing shall be posted on the website as well.

Section 2 provides for an effective date of the first of July next
succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law; provided.
however, that if chapter 433 of the laws of 2008 shall not have taken
effect on or before such date then this act shall take effect on the
same date and in the same manner as such chapter of the laws of 2008
takes effect.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In December of 2008, the Office of the State Comptroller released a
report entitled "Textbook Pricing Disparities". This report
illustrated that colleges and universities can help to alleviate the
cost of textbook price inflation on their students. If all higher
education institutions, including SUNY and CUNY, would provide
information on required textbooks to students on a timelier basis,
students would have the opportunity to compare prices across a number
of different sources and save money. This legislation would require
colleges and universities to post a full course listing with required
textbooks on their web sites at least six weeks prior to the start of
classes to allow students time to comparison shop for the best
textbook prices. This would give students time to shop for their
textbooks at local bookstores or online where textbooks may be offered
at a discount relative to the campus bookstore price.

2009-S5941 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5941

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 19, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES  --  (at request of the State Comp-
  troller) -- read twice and ordered printed, and  when  printed  to  be
  committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring institutions
  of  higher  education to post full course listings with required text-
  books on their websites at least six  weeks  prior  to  the  start  of
  classes

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 721 of the education law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
  1-A. INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION SHALL POST FULL COURSE  LISTINGS
WITH  REQUIRED  TEXTBOOKS  ON THEIR WEBSITES AT LEAST SIX WEEKS PRIOR TO
THE START OF CLASSES. SUCH  POSTED  TEXTBOOK  LISTS  SHALL  INCLUDE  THE
SPECIFIC  INTERNATIONAL  STANDARD  BOOK  NUMBER  (ISBN),  TITLE, AUTHOR,
EDITION AND PUBLISHER OF EACH REQUIRED TEXTBOOK.  THE  CAMPUS  BOOKSTORE
PRICE  FOR  EACH REQUIRED TEXTBOOK SHALL BE POSTED IF THE INSTITUTION OF
HIGHER EDUCATION HAS A CAMPUS BOOKSTORE. IF A DIFFERENT TEXTBOOK EDITION
OR PRINTING IS ACCEPTABLE INSTEAD OF  A  REQUIRED  TEXTBOOK,  THE  ISBN,
TITLE,  AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF SUCH EDITION OR PRINTING SHALL BE POSTED
ON THE WEBSITE AS WELL.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that if
chapter 433 of the laws of 2008 shall not have taken effect on or before
such  date  then  this act shall take effect on the same date and in the
same manner as such chapter of the laws of 2008 takes effect.


 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD11235-01-9

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.