HB 1027 Signed into Law

[judith....@austincc.edu]

TX OER Colleagues: In case you missed the good news.

Judith

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Nicole Allen <nic...@sparcopen.org>

Subject: [LibOER] Texas Adopts Bill to Increase Transparency of "Inclusive Access" Automatic Textbook Billing

Date: June 21, 2021 at 11:52:45 AM PDT

To: SPARC Libraries & OER Forum <lib...@sparcopen.org>

Cc: Winni Zhang <wi...@sparcopen.org>

Dear OER colleagues,

I’m pleased to share that the U.S. state of Texas has adopted the nation’s first legislation to increase transparency for automatic textbook billing programs. Sponsored by Representative Tan Parker and Senator Brandon Creighton, House Bill 1027 received bipartisan approval from the state legislature last month and was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbot last week. 

HB 1027 requires that Texas public colleges and universities explicitly disclose within the institution's course schedule the fee amount, student data terms of use, and opt-out procedure for course materials that will be automatically billed, along with other associated charges. HB 1027 also requires institutions to itemize any course material fees charged to student accounts and ensures that relevant vendor agreements are public records. The bill builds on the state's existing textbook transparency law, which is already among the strongest in the nation, and will apply beginning with the 2022 fall semester.

You can read SPARC’s full statement on our website. 

While transparency is just the first step, this bill sends an important message that institutions need to carefully reexamine their automatic textbook billing practices. That’s true for ensuring that students are aware of fees and how to opt-out, and it is especially true for the vendor terms of service that students will be required to accept in order to access the digital course materials they are charged for. As SPARC has documented in our community owned infrastructure initiative, the publishing industry’s future is increasingly about the data they can extract and analyze, and "inclusive access" is helping to establish their pipeline.

State legislative sessions are mostly over for the year, but we hope that HB 1027 will set a precedent for more states to consider automatic textbook billing protections in 2022—and for institutions and systems to consider them right away. We should note that a complimentary bill, HB 1707, supported by Representative Howard and Senator Taylor, was also introduced in Texas that serves a strong model for introducing consumer protections for automatic textbook billing agreements.  

Last but certainly not least, I want to highlight that credit for the successful advocacy for HB 1027 is owed to SPARC’s Winni Zhang (who was previously SGA president at University of Houston), along with current Houston Community College SGA president Christine Mompoint and student leaders across the state who wrote in support of the bill. Lobbyists from the textbook publishing and bookstore industry turned out in force to oppose the bill during the original hearing, and it was the voices of student advocates that made the difference.

As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Cheers,

Nicole

Nicole Starr Allen
SPARC | Director of Open Education
1201 Connecticut Ave NW, #608 
Washington, DC 20036 USA
+1 (202) 750-1637
nic...@sparcopen.org
@txtbks she/her