SB383 Summary

• Establishes qualified depositories for textbooks as in-state facilities that receive orders from boards of education, store textbooks, and distribute them to local school systems.

• Prohibits qualified depositories from charging boards of education for services but authorizes them to negotiate fees directly with publishers.

• Requires publishers to use qualified depositories when requested by boards of education and maintain sufficient stock; textbook prices cannot exceed those prescribed by law regardless of distribution method.

• Expands definition of "textbooks" to include digital textbooks, which must be recommended, adopted, and purchased using the same procedures as physical textbooks.

• Creates a 12-member Digital Depository Study Commission to meet at least four times before the 2016 legislative session and report recommendations on applying depository requirements to digital materials.