Committee hears testimony on unusual shipping charges for instructional materials; bill would limit allowed freight fees

House Bill 55 15 would narrow the allowable instructional‑materials and technology fund reimbursements so districts can be charged only for legitimate, actual shipping costs directly related to delivery of physical instructional materials and would prohibit unjustified handling charges for digital content.

Nut graf: The sponsor described examples of inflated or opaque shipping fees that have caused large increases in districts’ charges since a 2019 statutory change; the committee heard testimony from the Instructional Materials Coordinators Association of Texas in support and left the bill pending.

Body: Senator King explained the bill as a fix to an unintended loophole created by 2019 legislation (HB 396) that changed which shipping charges could be covered by the instructional materials fund. King said districts reported shipping charges rising to as much as 12 percent of an order’s value and gave examples including an alleged $53,125.20 freight invoice for materials that would have fit on two pallets and an instance where a district estimate showed freight should have been roughly $600 instead of $53,000.

Misty Fisher, president of the Instructional Materials Coordinators Association of Texas, testified in support and confirmed the sponsor’s example was her district’s experience this year. She said the fund is meant to be used for student instructional materials and technology and that the bill will increase transparency and protect instructional funds.

Ending: Public testimony closed and the committee left HB 5515 pending subject to the call of the chair.