http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/02/2005022305n.htm
Virginia Lawmakers Approve Bill to Ban Textbook Kickbacks to Professors
By THOMAS BARTLETT
A bill that would prohibit professors at Virginia's public colleges from accepting incentives from publishers to adopt their textbooks for classroom use won final legislative approval on Tuesday with a unanimous vote in the State Senate. The bill, which the House of Delegates also approved unanimously this month, would also require all course reading lists to be available online, to make it easier for students to comparison shop.
A spokesman said Gov. Mark R. Warner was likely to sign the bill (
HB 1726) into law.
The legislation was the result of a campaign by Virginia21, an organization led by the student-body presidents at 15 state colleges.
The anti-kickback portion of the bill was
inspired by a 2003 article in The Chronicle that revealed how some professors accept under-the-table payments from publishers to adopt textbooks, according to David D. Solimini, a spokesman for Virginia21. The organization collected 6,000 signatures from students on a petition supporting the legislation.
"We wanted to send a message to publishers that this is a practice that isn't appreciated in Virginia," said Del. G. Glenn Oder, who sponsored the bill in the House of Delegates. "We have no interest in publishers' using inducements to get professors to assign a certain book or change editions."
The bill states that professors can receive no compensation for assigning a textbook, except for an instructor's copy of the book or royalties if the assigning professor wrote the book or a portion of it.
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