Bill Text: FL S0106 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Financial Literacy Month
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-04-08 - Adopted [S0106 Detail]
Download: Florida-2015-S0106-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2015 (NP) SR 106
By Senator Hukill
8-00135-15 2015106__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing April 2015 as “Financial
3 Literacy Month” in Florida.
4
5 WHEREAS, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson dated August 23,
6 1787, John Adams recognized the need for financial literacy,
7 writing, “All the perplexities, confusions, and distresses in
8 America arise, not from defects in their constitution or
9 confederation, not from a want of honor or virtue, so much as
10 from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and
11 circulation,” and
12 WHEREAS, in 1914, the United States Congress passed the
13 Smith-Lever Act, which created a system of cooperative extension
14 services to provide learning experiences that would develop
15 skills, including financial skills, that people needed at home,
16 on the farm, and in their communities, and
17 WHEREAS, in 1919, Junior Achievement, a nonprofit youth
18 organization, was founded to work with local businesses and
19 organizations to deliver financial literacy, entrepreneurship,
20 and work-readiness education, and
21 WHEREAS, the 1950s marked a time when issues relating to
22 financial management, including retirement security, composed 50
23 percent of the research that was conducted in the field of home
24 economics, with financial literacy continuing to gain greater
25 prominence in the field of education and beyond, and
26 WHEREAS, in 1995, William E. Odom, former chairman and CEO
27 of Ford Motor Credit Corporation, developed the concept that led
28 to the formation of the Jump$tart Coalition, a nonprofit
29 organization that includes about 150 national organizations and
30 entities consisting of corporate, nonprofit, academic,
31 government, and other groups working to advance the financial
32 literacy of students from prekindergarten to college age, and
33 WHEREAS, in 1996, Lewis Mandell, Ph.D., developed the
34 financial literacy survey that is now a hallmark of the
35 Jump$tart Coalition’s work, providing the guidelines that
36 evolved into the National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance
37 Education, and
38 WHEREAS, the Financial Literacy and Education Commission
39 was established under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions
40 Act of 2003 to improve financial literacy and to develop a
41 national strategy on financial education, and
42 WHEREAS, in 2004, the United States Senate passed S.Res.
43 316, which officially recognized April 2004 as “Financial
44 Literacy Month,” and
45 WHEREAS, in 2004, Citigroup announced a 10-year, $200
46 million commitment to meet the growing financial education needs
47 of the communities that Citigroup served, and the American
48 Institute of Certified Public Accountants joined state societies
49 and individual certified public accountants in launching a
50 unified financial literacy initiative called “360 Degrees of
51 Financial Literacy” to address the widespread financial
52 illiteracy epidemic, and
53 WHEREAS, in 2008, President George W. Bush signed Executive
54 Order 13455, which created the President’s Advisory Council on
55 Financial Literacy to recommend steps that could be taken in
56 order to enhance financial literacy in the United States, and
57 WHEREAS, in 2010, the League of Southeastern Credit Unions
58 made it one of its missions to teach financial literacy to as
59 many people as possible through programs like the National
60 Endowment for Financial Education’s High School Financial
61 Planning Program, Biz Kid$, Money Mission, career and reality
62 fairs, seminars, and workshops, and
63 WHEREAS, in 2010, the United States Congress passed the
64 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,
65 creating the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to promote
66 financial education, and
67 WHEREAS, in 2011, President Barack Obama designated April
68 2011 as “National Financial Literacy Month,” declaring, “During
69 National Financial Literacy Month, we recommit to improving
70 financial literacy and ensuring all Americans have access to
71 trustworthy financial services and products,” and
72 WHEREAS, in 2012, 52 percent of teens polled said that they
73 wanted to learn more about how to manage their money and that
74 they were particularly interested in learning more about basic
75 personal finance topics such as budgeting, saving, checking
76 accounts, and investing, and
77 WHEREAS, in 2013, 40 percent of adults polled gave
78 themselves a grade of “C,” “D,” or “F” on their knowledge of
79 personal finance, and 78 percent said they agreed that they
80 could benefit from additional advice and answers to everyday
81 financial questions from a professional, and
82 WHEREAS, today, Americans carry more than $2 trillion in
83 consumer debt, with 30 percent of consumers reporting that they
84 have no extra cash, making it impossible to escape the burden of
85 living paycheck to paycheck, and
86 WHEREAS, currently, 43 states require some form of
87 financial literacy content to be taught in high schools, with 19
88 states requiring that a personal financial literacy course be
89 offered and 17 states requiring that students take a personal
90 financial literacy course, and
91 WHEREAS, National Financial Literacy Month is recognized in
92 the United States each April in an effort to highlight the
93 importance of financial literacy, to teach Americans how to
94 establish and maintain healthy financial habits, and to remind
95 Americans of the importance of teaching students how to be
96 financially savvy and empowering them to be economically
97 successful throughout their lives, NOW, THEREFORE,
98
99 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
100
101 That April 2015 is recognized as “Financial Literacy Month”
102 in Florida and that all residents of this state are urged to
103 recognize that financial literacy is an important part of our
104 students’ education.
