Requires textbook publishers to provide public institutions of higher education with information on price and availability of textbooks.

S3250

SENATE, No. 3250

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 2, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� SHIRLEY K. TURNER

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires textbook publishers to provide public
institution of higher education with information on price and availability of
textbooks.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning the selection of textbooks at public
institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 62 of Title 18A of
the New Jersey Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �Textbook Access Act.�

���� 2.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:

���� a.���� The cost of attending a
public institution of higher education continues to increase and many New
Jersey students and their families find it difficult to afford the textbooks
and materials that students are required to purchase for their courses;

���� b.��� It must be the policy of
the State that public institutions of higher education work to identify ways to
reduce student expenditures on textbooks and course materials;

���� c.���� Textbooks and course
materials have become increasingly complex due to the diversity of the student
population and advances in pedagogy and learning technologies, and it is
necessary to ensure that students receive fair value for the textbooks and
course materials they purchase;

���� d.��� Textbook publishers
often �bundle� or package required textbooks with additional instructional
materials, such as CD-ROMs and workbooks; and

���� e.���� Promoting open and
transparent marketing, choice, pricing, and purchasing of textbooks and course
materials may provide significant savings to students over their college
careers.

���� 3.��� As used in this act:

���� �Adopter� means a faculty
member or academic department at a public institution of higher education
responsible for considering and choosing textbooks and supplemental materials
to be utilized in connection with the accredited courses taught at the institution;

���� �Product� means all versions
of a textbook or set of textbooks, except custom textbooks or special editions
of textbooks, available in the subject area for which a prospective adopter is
teaching a course, including supplemental materials, both when sold together or
separately from a textbook;

���� �Public institution of higher
education� means Rutgers, The State University, the New Jersey Institute of
Technology, Rowan University, Montclair State University, Kean University, the
State colleges or universities established pursuant to chapter 64 of Title 18A
of the New Jersey Statutes, the county colleges and any other public university
or college now or hereafter established or authorized by State law;

���� �Supplemental materials� means
items that supplement the primary textbook or textbooks that come in the form
of another book, on-line technologies, a workbook, CD-ROM, or any other format,
and that can be used by a faculty member or a student during the teaching of a
course.

���� 4.��� A publisher of textbooks
shall

make
available with any other information provided to a prospective adopter the
price at which the publisher would make the product available to the college
bookstore that would offer the product to the students.� The publisher shall
disclose to the adopter when unbundled textbooks are available in the same
edition as the bundled textbooks.

���� 5.��� Textbooks shall be sold
in the same manner as ordered by the adopter.� In the event that the product is
unavailable as ordered, the bookstore, adopter, and relevant publisher shall
work together to provide the best possible substitute that most closely matches
the requested product, and the publisher shall make readily available the price
of the substitute.

���� 6.��� The governing board of a
public institution of higher education shall institute policies that encourage
an adopter to place purchasing orders with sufficient time to enable the
institution or college bookstore to confirm the availability of the requested
product and, when appropriate, the availability of used textbooks or
alternative digital formats.

���� 7.��� No employee of a public
institution of higher education shall demand or receive any payment, loan,
advance, goods,

or deposit of money for adopting specific products for
coursework or instruction; except that the employee may receive sample copies,
instructor�s copies, or instructional materials that are not to be sold, or
royalties or other compensation from sales of textbooks that include the
instructor�s own writing or work in accordance with the �New Jersey Conflicts
of Interest Law,� P.L.1971, c.282 (C.52:13D-12 et seq.) and
regulations promulgated thereto.

���� 8.��� This act shall take
effect immediately

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires textbook
publishers to provide to the faculty members or academic departments at public
institutions of higher education responsible for selecting textbooks the price
at which the publisher would make the product available to the college
bookstore. �The bill also requires publishers to disclose when unbundled
textbooks are available in the same edition as the bundled textbooks. �Bundling
refers to the practice of packaging required textbooks with additional
instructional materials, such as CD-ROMs and workbooks.

���� Under the bill, the governing
board of the institution is required to institute policies that encourage
faculty members to place purchasing orders in sufficient time to enable the
institution or bookstore to confirm the availability of the requested materials
and, when appropriate, the availability of used textbooks or alternative
digital formats.

���� The bill provides that
textbooks must be sold in the same manner as ordered. �In the event that the
product is unavailable as ordered, the bookstore, faculty member, and relevant
publisher are required to work together to provide the best possible substitute
that most closely matches the requested product, and the publisher must make
available the price of the substitute.

���� The bill also provides that no
employee of a public institution of higher education may demand or receive any
payment, loan, advance, goods, or deposit of money for adopting specific course
materials required for coursework or instruction.�

���� The cost of attending public
institutions of higher education continues to increase and many New
Jersey students and their families find it difficult to afford the textbooks
and materials that students are required to purchase for their courses. �The
purpose of this bill is to promote open and transparent marketing, pricing and
purchasing of textbooks to provide savings to students.