Legislature(2023 - 2024)DAVIS 106
03/20/2023 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB69 | |
| HB9 | |
| HB10 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 9 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 69 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 10-UNIVERSITY: TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS COST
[Contains discussion of SB 13.]
8:51:10 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 10, "An Act relating to costs of and
charges for textbooks and other course materials required for
University of Alaska courses; and providing for an effective
date."
8:51:36 AM
ASHLEY CARRICK, Alaska State Legislature, began presenting the
second piece of legislation, HB 10, also known as the "textbook
cost transparency act." She pointed out that HB 10 is the only
minority to minority companion bill in the legislature currently
and it is the House companion bill to SB 13. She paraphrased
the sponsor statement [included in the committee packet], which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
For many years, the cost of higher education has been
increasing well above the rate of inflation, making a
college education difficult or even unrealistic to
obtain for many students and working families. As
costs have increased, higher education seekers have
taken out crippling loans or gone to other
extraordinary means to pay for school. As students
work to balance the many costs of attending college
classes, including tuition, room and board, and other
expenses it is beneficial that transparency exists in
the costs of textbooks.
House Bill 10, the Textbook Cost Transparency Act
provides important information about the costs of
textbooks and course materials for classes while
students are registering for classes, thus allowing
them to make informed choices and financially plan for
school. The goal of this bill is to provide students
with as much information regarding costs as early as
possible in the registration process with clearly
defined definitions integrated into the University of
Alaska's shared online course catalog (UAOnline). By
allowing students to see which classes come at "zero-
cost" or "low-cost" they will be able to make more
informed financial decisions more easily.
While the faculty are the deciders of course materials
and are often keen to ensure an affordable class
experience for students, this bill simply lets
students know the cost of their classes before
completing the registration process. Please join me in
supporting House Bill 10, the Textbook Cost
Transparency Act and supporting University of Alaska
Students.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK noted a projected effective date of July
1, 2026, which would allow the university's administration to
make changes. She thanked Senator Myers, [prime sponsor of SB
13], and his staff for their diligence and for allowing her to
work on the bill with them.
8:56:02 AM
STUART RELAY, Staff, Representative Ashley Carrick, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Carrick, prime sponsor,
gave the sectional analysis for HB 10 [included in committee
packets] which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Section 1. (Page 1). This section establishes that
this act may be known as the "Textbook Cost
Transparency Act".
Section 2. (Page 1-2) Amends AS 14.40 by adding a new
section outlining the information that the University
of Alaska must provide in the University systems
online course schedule relating to class materials and
automatic fees required for the materials. This
section provides statute definitions for "course
materials", "online course schedule", "zero-cost
resources", and "low-cost resources".
This section also directs that the universities'
online course schedule must include search functions
to identify courses with only zero-cost materials
required.
Section 3. (Page 2) establishes an effective date for
the bill of July 1st, 2026
8:58:11 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE announced the committee would now hear
invited testimony on HB 10.
8:58:41 AM
KATIE SCOGGIN, President, United Students of the University of
Alaska Anchorage, gave invited testimony in support of HB 10.
She began by explaining the need for affordability of higher
education is true for every high school student [after being
admitted to a university] and gave examples of cost comparisons
she experienced personally. Because of the additional cost of
course materials not being made available prior to registration,
it is hard to budget accordingly. She noted some students must
borrow money to cover the costs of materials due to not having
an idea beforehand and this is a story she has heard multiple
times. She stressed that it is crucial and necessary that the
online course schedule identifies required course materials in
the description. She urged the committee to support HB 10.
9:03:00 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE invited questions from the committee.
9:03:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCKAY expressed surprise that a state law must be
passed "to do this." He asked if required textbooks would be on
Amazon for the purpose of a cost reference.
MS. SCOGGIN responded yes, while students may likely find the
materials on Amazon, the issue would be not knowing which
version of the textbook would need to be purchased, and the
likelihood of it not correlating with the rest of the course
materials.
9:05:18 AM
ASHLYN BROOKS, President, The Associated Students of the
University of Alaska Fairbanks, gave invited testimony in
support of HB 10 and acknowledged the frustration of signing up
for an already expensive course only to find out weeks later
that sometimes several hundreds of dollars more are required to
buy textbooks and course materials. She noted it is a severe
problem for many of the lower income students on campus and they
may have to take out last minute loans to cover the costs. She
echoed Ms. Scoggin's testimony on the inability to budget
accordingly due to not knowing the costs beforehand.
9:06:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT, regarding reference materials from
Sara Perman, [Government Relations Manager, University of
Alaska], pointed out a letter [included in the committee
packet], which included materials regarding no-cost/low-cost
transparency efforts. Representative Himschoot read a line, as
follows: "It is important to note that each of our
universities, UAA, UAF, UAS, are subject to federal regulations
that require us to provide accurate and timely information about
the cost of books or required materials." She asked whether the
bill drills down deeper, and how it improves things beyond the
federal regulations.
MR. RELAY responded that he cannot speak specifically about
federal regulations, but the bill provides an in-state statute
that must disclose whether materials are low-cost or no-cost
options for a course when it is available online.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK added that the bill expands on the
efforts the university is currently undergoing to enact more
measures.
9:08:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY observed that HB 10 does not state anything
about the step of educating students about the span of the cost
of textbooks, and on page 1, line 10 it states, "required course
materials." She asked where on the website she could find the
costs of materials.
MR. RELAY replied that the bill does not provide the exact cost
because it would be a burden to the faculty to find exact,
current prices. He explained the university has online search
functions that state a course has low-cost materials. He gave a
brief explanation of what currently constitutes as low cost.
9:10:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked Representative Carrick if she knew
how the university currently lets students or local school
districts know what the costs of textbooks are.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK replied that one of the documents given
from the university system [in the committee packet] outlines
how each of the campuses has worked to advertise low and no cost
materials. She stated what struck her is that there is not
uniformity across the system right now; students do not know the
cost of materials until close to the start date of the course or
not until the first day of class.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked what the deadline is for a faculty
member to have their materials posted for the upcoming semester.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK noted some classes do not require any
materials, but a few weeks before semester begins faculty will
produce a syllabus and create a course platform to share with
students.
9:15:20 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD asked Representative Carrick if she had checked
with any of the representatives from UAA on how much manpower
this would take.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK replied the university would take on some
of the administrative legwork to make this happen, and that is
part of why the effective date is pushed out to 2026. In terms
of how many hours it would take, she explained the university
may better speak to that. She offered her understanding that
the university could absorb taking on the administrative work of
putting this together with current staffing, which is why, up to
this point, there has not been a fiscal note received from the
university.
CO-CHAIR ALLARD questioned if there had been any conversation
with any representatives from UAA.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK replied that her staff have spoken with
the university administration, which has relayed it would be an
extra administrative burden to put this together.
CO-CHAIR ALLARD asked if there had been any conversation with
the Board of Regents about implementing this; she stated concern
on making a state law allowing the university to "do something
simply" or continue what they are doing now.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK replied she had not spoken with regent
members but noted the value in having uniformity across the
system. She gave examples of students finding out about
textbook costs and having to drop classes; working families
struggle to afford higher education in general, and left to the
universities' own devices, they may implement a uniform system,
but it may take a very long time. Putting it in state law would
ensure that the process is working with the university
administration by giving them time to implement it, while also
making sure it happens.
9:17:43 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD reiterated she has a problem with it being state
law instead of allowing UAA to make these decisions and go
through their chain of command.
9:17:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX reflected on the conversation stating that
students select courses based on cost of curriculum; he thought
courses should be selected based on the need for the degree
being pursued, or the reputation of the instructor.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK responded there are a lot of factors that
go into decision making for which course a student takes. She
gave an example wherein if there are four sections of the same
course and if one had a low-cost option, that may factor into
the decision. She also noted there are people online from the
university system available to answer questions.
9:21:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX observed that there was a zero fiscal note,
but "within the text" there are going to be costs; he asked what
it might cost the university, and why that wasn't stated in the
fiscal note.
9:22:29 AM
PAUL LAYER, Vice President, Academics, Students & Research,
University of Alaska System, explained that as many committee
members are aware, the university was allocated funding last
year to improve the Student Information System (SIS) and UAA
online is a piece of that. As SIS is being upgraded, the spirit
in the letter of requirements in this legislation will be part
of that new system brought online to improve the student
experience. He pointed out that in the committee packet, there
are three different approaches from the three universities
regarding low-cost/zero-cost or textbook transparency.
Regarding the fiscal note, it will be a cost, but it will be
incorporated into the improved SIS.
9:24:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX commented on not knowing the cost of
textbooks until the day of, the day before, and in some cases,
the day after a class begins. A good practice is to let a
customer know what the cost is before they commit to the sale.
He stated he is puzzled about the university not implementing
this practice on its own; why would this need the legislature to
put into law to do something that makes "perfectly good business
sense."
MR. LAYER replied that there are some exceptions to why textbook
costs are not known until later for certain courses, but the
university is moving to the point where the cost is known at the
time of registration, and flags for zero-cost/low-cost are
available as well.
9:26:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX noted his hesitation to have the legislature
dictate something that is "common sense." First, he questioned
whether the university needs this legislation, and second, he
asked if the legislature could be giving the university a
responsibility that it can't meet.
MR. LAYER replied that to implement this will require effort,
and he stated that he does not have the exact cost. He agreed
that it is the right thing to do, something to work towards, and
as the SIS is implemented it would be a part of the student
interface. He expressed the university would work very hard
withing its scope, and in a timely manner.
9:30:28 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD asked Mr. Layer if he had spoken to [University
of Alaska System] President Pitney on her opinion on this
matter, or the Board of Regents. She expressed concern that UA
would be in a position for a lawsuit.
MR. LAYER confirmed he had spoken to President Pitney but not
the board members yet. He noted he had not "touched base" with
President Pitney on the actual bill at this time, but she is
aware of improving student experience and the issue is high on
her mind.
9:32:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCKAY gave an example of when the university may
not be able to comply, which would be when a textbook may
suddenly become unavailable [out of print] and an alternative
must be found immediately to take its place; the book may end up
costing much more than what was originally posted.
9:34:25 AM
SARA PERMAN, Government Relations Manager, University of Alaska
System, pointed out Representative McKay's example of non-
compliance being accurate. She noted in internal conversations
there are challenges recognized, and she gave an example of fall
semester: the course schedule is required to be uploaded to the
UA system by April, but faculty is not selected yet.
9:36:44 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD reiterated her concern about making a state law
and asked if Ms. Perman had any other opinion as to why the
university does not have the resources and time if they thought
it was the right thing to do.
MS. PERMAN responded this is an active measure to "get there
faster."
CO-CHAIR ALLARD asked how the university would address a
potential lawsuit.
MS. PERMAN replied she is not legal counsel for the university,
but she acknowledged that is a concern.
9:39:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked if there is support from the
faculty senate.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK replied the faculty senate had not taken
a position on this legislation, and again, it does pose a burden
administratively. She stated that the goal is not to create an
inflexible situation, but to give students clearer expectations
when they register. If there are legal challenges with this
legislation then the university would encounter them as they
work to implement "something similar regardless," she said.
9:43:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK further commented on why the legislature
should weigh in, in reference to defining something as a low-
cost resource, that the perception of that is different from
that of the administration to that of students.
9:44:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked if there are any other university
systems doing this.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK replied there are 5 university systems in
other states which have adopted similar legislation.
9:45:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked Ms. Perman about getting an estimate
of costs.
MS. PERMAN replied that she could pull numbers that can be
provided at a later date. She gave examples of previous
contractor costs.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX commented on pulling numbers having an
interference with their contracting and bidding process, and if
so, the university should wait.
MS. PERMAN agreed that is appropriate.
9:48:33 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE gave personal examples of how some of his
previous students did not have an idea what the textbook was
going to be, as well as the cost, until the class began. He
commented that the bigger issue may be just that.
MS. PERMAN replied that it could be because it is a multiple
step process.
9:51:00 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE announced HB 10 was held over.