_____________ bill NO. _____________

INTRODUCED BY _________________________________________________

By Request of the ****

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REVISING LAWS RELATED TO SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS; ENSURING THAT TEXTBOOKS SOLD TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE ALIGNED TO MONTANA CONTENT STANDARDS; AMENDING SECTION 20-7-604, MCA; and PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 20-7-604, MCA, is amended to read:

"20-7-604. Licensing textbook dealers. (1) Textbook dealers must be licensed to sell textbooks by the superintendent of public instruction. To obtain a license, a textbook dealer shall first file with the superintendent of public instruction the dealer's written agreement to:

(a)        guarantee that textbooks must be supplied to any district at the listed, uniform sales prices in effect for schools, except that the prices may be reduced in accordance with this section;

(b)        guarantee that at no time will any textbook sale price in Montana be a larger amount than the sale price to schools anywhere else in the United States under similar conditions of transportation and marketing; and

(c)        reduce automatically the listed, uniform sales price to schools whenever reductions of these prices are made anywhere in the United States.

(2)        (a) Textbook dealers filing the written agreement with the superintendent of public instruction shall also file a surety bond with the secretary of state. The surety bond must run to the state of Montana and be conditioned on the faithful performance of all duties imposed upon textbook dealers for the purpose of regulating the supply of textbooks to districts. The amount of the surety bond must be set by the superintendent of public instruction and may not be less than $2,000 or more than $10,000. It is the responsibility of the textbook dealer to maintain the surety bond on a current basis.

(b)        The secretary of state may charge a fee for the filing of the surety bond required under this section. The fee must be set by rule and deposited in accordance with 2-15-405.

(3)        When the textbook dealer has complied with the written agreement and surety bond requirements for licensing, and the superintendent of public instruction has determined that textbooks offered for sale in the state align with the content standards adopted by the board of public education, the superintendent shall issue a license to the textbook dealer."

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 2023.