Katie Porter received royalties from books she required students to purchase during tenure as a law professor

California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, a former law professor who was paid more than $285,000 a year while at the University of California, Irvine, earned thousands of dollars in royalties from books by law school text that he forced his own students to buy. the courses he taught.

In 2017, Porter, who is now seeking re-election to the House this November, was paid $286,674 to teach two courses per semester at the institution, according to Transparent California.

Since arriving in Washington, Porter has campaigned to make education more affordable for Americans, declaring in 2020 that America’s political system “has favored the rich and well-connected for too long “, as “powerful people live in a reality while everyone else does”. of us live in another.”

For several of the courses she taught, Porter forced her students to buy textbooks she authored and for which she received royalties, according to documents obtained through a FOIA request from UC Irvine .

REP. KATIE PORTER Says Inflation ‘REINFORCES’ NEED FOR ABORTION ON MSNBC

During the 2017 academic year, Porter taught a total of four courses, school records show. During the fall 2017 semester, Porter taught LAW 523, a bankruptcy law course, and LAW 5225, a consumer law course. During the spring 2017 semester, Porter taught LAW 299, a directed research course, and LAW 5901, Transition to Practice.

The seventh edition of “The Law of Debtors and Creditors: Text, Cases, and Problems,” a book co-authored by Porter and several others, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, was required material for Class 523 Bankruptcy ACT of Porter in the fall of 2017. , according to a course syllabus.

Another of his works, “Modern Consumer Law,” a book written by Porter and published in 2016, was required reading for Porter’s Consumer Law 5225 class in fall 2017, according to a syllabus of the course Additionally, Porter’s 2016 book itself was required reading for an online class he taught in the summer of 2017. However, he did not require students to understand the book during that semester, according to the course program

Porter also taught LAW 523 during the spring 2015 and 2016 semesters and required his students at that time to purchase the seventh addition to “The Law of Debtors and Creditors,” according to his course syllabus.

At other times during his tenure at the university, Porter, who has repeatedly pushed for lower education costs, required his students to use their own books for the courses he taught.

In 2015, Porter taught Law 5225 and required students to use “drafts from my next book, Consumer Law,” according to the course syllabus. He did not charge his students at that time for the materials needed for the course.

Katie Porter earned thousands in royalty fees between 2016 and 2017 from her academic books from Wolters Kluwer, a publishing company with several legal works that were later acquired by Aspen Publishing.

KATIE PORTER DEFENDS VOTE ON IRS EXPANSION, INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

Porter reported earning $7,795 in “publication royalties” in his financial disclosure for 2018. He also reported receiving between $1 and $200 in royalties from Stanford University Press for an academic book that write.

In a 2017 financial disclosure, Porter reported earning between $2,501 and $5,000 in royalties from his law books. In the same disclosure, Porter also reported earning between $201 and $1,000 in royalties from Stanford University Press for a book he wrote. The specific royalties Porter earned in 2016 were not disclosed in the 2017 filing.

A 2020 financial disclosure filed by Porter in 2021 revealed that he earned up to $5,000 in “royalty payments from Wolters Kluwer on two academic law textbooks.”

The cost of the required textbooks Porter co-authored and used in his courses has varied over the years. “The law of debtors and creditors” it cost $267 in 2019, but rose to $298 starting in 2022, an increase of nearly 12%. The cost of Porter’s book “Modern Consumer Law” has increased from $216 in 2019 to $275 in 2022, representing an estimated increase of 23%.

Earlier this month, an Associated Press report highlighted Porter’s home in Orange Beach, Calif., which the outlet says is in an area where homes are estimated to go for $1 million .

The progressive Democrat and law professor, who has lamented the cost of housing in her district, bought it in 2011 for $523,000, a below-market price secured through a program the university uses to attract academics who otherwise could not afford to live in the city. affluent area The only eligibility requirement was that he continue to work at the school.

For Porter, this version of subsidized housing has outlived his time in the classroom, now stretching nearly four years after he first took unpaid leave from his $258,000 teaching job in the ‘year to serve in the US House.

But the ties run deeper, with at least one law school administrator who was also a donor to his campaign, helping secure term extensions while he remained in Congress, according to university emails obtained by the AP. That has allowed Porter, a rising Democratic star and fundraising powerhouse whose own net worth is estimated at up to $2 million, to keep her home even as her return to school remains in the works. doubt

In an interview with The Associated Press, Porter declined to say whether his housing arrangement was adequate. But he said he was “following applicable (University of California) policies as well as all applicable state and federal laws.”

“I’m always happy to be transparent with voters,” Porter said. “I’m very proud of my record of transparency and good governance and voters have asked me about this before and I’ve always been happy to give them full and complete information.”

Porter has consistently defended the idea that the cost of a college education is too high, writing in a 2018 tweet that “the cost of college is too high and threatens the future of those seeking better opportunities.”

Porter has also campaigned on the issue of making “college more affordable so that every student who works hard can graduate from California’s great public colleges and universities debt-free.”

Porter faces scrutiny over its housing deal with UC Irvine. Porter bought his home in an affluent neighborhood near the school in 2011 for $523,000, securing a below-market rate through a college program offered to school employees. Porter remains in the House, but is on indefinite leave without pay from his teaching position to fulfill his duties at the US House.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Porter will face Republican Scott Baugh in California’s Nov. 8 general election as he aims to represent the Golden State’s 47th congressional district in the House.

Fox News did not hear back from Porter’s campaign.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.