Textbook pricing transparency bill passes higher education committee
Jordan Cunningham.
–Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) announced the passage of his legislation that would urge college textbook publishers to include more information on how textbook editions differ. The bill passed the Assembly Higher Education Committee with bi-partisan support.
“The cost of college tuition has gone up astronomically in recent years, and the price of college textbooks adds to the expenses students incur ”, said Assemblyman Cunningham. “I’m proud to work with students at Cal Poly University to bring more transparency to textbook pricing and help give students and faculty more clarity on the differences between older and newer additions of textbooks.”
AB 2385 is part of a months-long collaborative effort between Assemblyman Cunningham and students at Cal Poly University. The political science class, mentored by former Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo), brainstormed and helped craft the language of the bill. The bill urges publishers to include a more detailed description of how the newest edition differs from the previous edition, including an initial summary of content changes such as reordered, renamed, added, or deleted chapters. In addition, the description shall apply to changes in text, illustrations, statistics, graphics, and any other components of the chapter. This will enable students to decide whether they need to buy newer additions.
Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham is a small business owner, former Templeton School Board Member, husband and father of four. He represents all of San Luis Obispo County and a portion of Santa Barbara County, including Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Cambria, Paso Robles, Grover Beach, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Los Osos, Morro Bay, Nipomo, Orcutt, Pismo Beach, Templeton, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Maria, and surrounding communities.
