A pair of measures at the State Capitol would require textbook publishers to make free digital textbooks available to California college students taking the most popular courses.
They're authored by Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, and both passed their first committee votes Wednesday by wide margins.
"It is one of the leading strategies that we have this year to reduce the cost of a higher education for a lot of students and their families who are feeling the pinch," said Steinberg.
The legislation would create a competitive bidding process among publishers, faculty members and others - and set up a state-run open source digital library to house the E-books.
The textbook industry opposes the bills. It's concerned about the government funding digital textbooks - and potentially dictating to faculty that they must use those materials.
Higher education tuition in California has jumped significantly in recent years due to state budget cuts.
