Affordable College Textbook Act

The Affordable College Textbook Act is a United States legislative bill intended to support use of open textbooks. It was introduced on April 4, 2019, to the 116th Congress by four senators (Dick Durbin of Illinois, Angus King of Maine, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Tina Smith of Minnesota), and one representative (Joe Neguse of Colorado). Organizations supporting the bill include the American Federation of Teachers, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of Research Libraries, and Creative Commons.

History CongressShort titleBill number(s)Date introducedSponsor(s)# of cosponsorsLatest status113th CongressAffordable College Textbook ActNovember 19th, 2013Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)47Died in CommitteeNovember 14th, 2013Dick Durbin (D-IL)5Died in committee114th CongressOctober 8th, 2015Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)6Died in committeeOctober 8th, 2015Dick Durbin (D-IL)3Died in committee115th CongressSeptember 26th, 2017Jared Polis (D-CO)7Died in committeeSeptember 26th, 2017Dick Durbin (D-IL)6Died in committee116th CongressApril 4th, 2019Joe Neguse (D-CO)3Died in committeeApril 4th, 2019Dick Durbin (D-IL)4Died in committee

Previously, the bill was introduced to the 115th Congress on September 26, 2017. If passed, the program would have tried to make education less expensive for college students. The U.S. Department of Education would have coordinated funding. U.S. Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Al Franken of Minnesota, and Angus King of Maine sponsored S.1864, and U.S. Representatives Jared Polis of Colorado and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona sponsored the identical H.R.3840. Later co-sponsors in the Senate included Democrats Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and Tina Smith of Minnesota. Later co-sponsors in the House included a mixture of Republicans and Democrats: Carlos Curbelo of Florida, Peter DeFazio of Oregon, Peter King of New York, Mia Love of Utah, Tom MacArthur of New Jersey, and Rick Nolan of Minnesota.

Similar bills had been previously introduced in 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2015 as the "Open College Textbook Act" and the "Affordable College Textbook Act".

In 2018, Congress budgeted five million dollars for a related pilot program.

See also List of bills in the 116th United States Congress List of bills in the 115th United States Congress

References

Affordable College Textbook Act

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