BILL NUMBER: AB 150 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 18, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lieu
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Coto, Davis, De Leon, Dymally,
Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Jeffries, and Karnette)
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist and Romero)
JANUARY 17, 2007
An act to add Chapter 13.5 (commencing with Section 52980) to Part
28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to
financial literacy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 150, Lieu. California Financial Literacy Initiative.
The California Constitution requires the Legislature to encourage
the promotion of intellectual improvement. Existing law regulates
financial institutions and their interactions with the public.
Existing law recognizes the existence of specialized financial
institutions that provide services, including, but not limited to,
financial literacy training, to underserved communities. Existing law
requires, after January 1, 2003, and concurrently with, but not
prior to, the next revision of textbooks or curriculum frameworks in
the social sciences, health, and mathematics curricula, that the
State Board of Education ensure that these academic areas integrate
specified components, including financial preparedness.
This bill would establish the California Financial Literacy
Initiative for the purpose of improving financial literacy by
offering instructional materials for teachers and parents to provide
high-quality financial literacy education for pupils in kindergarten
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The initiative would be administered
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Superintendent would
be authorized to provide, among other things, an online library of
financial literacy resources and materials to be made available for
schools, teachers, parents, and pupils. The Superintendent also would
be authorized to convene a Financial Literacy Advisory Committee
that may include representatives of the office of the Superintendent,
the office of the Treasurer, the Department of Corporations, the
Department of Financial Institutions, and the office of the
Controller.
The Superintendent, beginning in 2010, would be required to report
biennially on or before January 1 to the Legislature on specified
data to be collected about the materials included in the online
library of financial literacy resources by the authors or publishers
of those materials, at their option.
The bill would require specified state agencies to use existing
resources for the initiative if they elect to participate.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The average American household consumer credit card debt is
about eight thousand dollars ($8,000).
(b) Forty-three percent of American families spend more than they
earn, and data from the Federal Reserve states that Americans hold a
total debt of $1.9773 trillion, not including mortgage debt,
averaging eighteen thousand six hundred fifty-four dollars ($18,654)
per household.
(c) High school seniors taking part in a national survey of
financial knowledge scored an average of 52.4 percent, which is a
failing grade.
(d) Undergraduate students reported their freshman year as the
most prevalent time for obtaining credit cards, with 56 percent
reporting that they obtained their first credit card at 18 years of
age.
(e) Almost 24 percent of undergraduate students reported using
credit cards for tuition.
(f) Studies have shown that young adults who are 18 to 24 years of
age suffer higher rates of theft of their personal financial
information than any other age group.
(g) Many groups are dedicated to increasing the financial literacy
of Americans and a broad range of quality personal finance
instructional materials and curricula have been created for this
purpose.
(h) California does not have an official statewide policy or
educational plan for the teaching of financial literacy.
(i) Financial literacy materials and resources exist in many forms
but are not organized or collected in a systematic manner.
(j) The teaching of financial literacy skills is vital to equip
the young people of California with the tools they need to enter the
financial marketplace.
SEC. 2. Chapter 13.5 (commencing with Section 52980) is added to
Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 13.5. CALIFORNIA FINANCIAL LITERACY INITIATIVE
52980. For purposes of this chapter, "initiative" means the
California Financial Literacy Initiative.
52981. (a) The California Financial Literacy Initiative is
hereby established as a program for improving financial literacy by
offering instructional materials for teachers and parents to provide
high-quality financial literacy education for pupils in kindergarten
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(b) The initiative shall be administered by the Superintendent.
52982. (a) The goals for the initiative are to accomplish both of
the following:
(1) Provide pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
with tools they will need after high school to manage their finances,
including tools to protect their financial information from theft.
(2) Promote high-quality programs that provide instruction on
pertinent financial literacy issues as determined by the
Superintendent.
(b) The Superintendent may do all of the following:
(1) Provide an online library of financial literacy resources and
materials to be made available for schools, teachers, parents, and
pupils.
(2) Coordinate and collaborate with financial institutions,
financial services providers, and nonprofit community organizations
in collecting and distributing financial literacy materials.
(3) Organize financial literacy materials, to be made available in
a manner that ensures that materials are matched to the appropriate
grade span.
52983. (a) The Superintendent may convene a Financial Literacy
Advisory Committee to review materials that can be provided on the
Internet in a centralized location for access by local educational
agencies for purposes of ensuring that pupils in kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, have access to grade-level-appropriate
financial literacy resources.
(b) The Financial Literacy Advisory Committee may include
representatives of the office of the Superintendent, the office of
the Treasurer, the Department of Corporations, the Department of
Financial Institutions, and the office of the Controller.
52984. (a) Financial institutions, financial services providers,
nonprofit community organizations, and other publishers whose
materials or resources are included in the online library provided
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 52983 may
include in those materials a means of collecting data, including, but
not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The estimated number of users.
(2) The grade span of the intended user.
(3) Whether the person accessing the material is a pupil, teacher,
administrator, parent, or other interested person.
(4) Any other relevant information that would aid in the purpose
of this chapter.
(b) Beginning in 2009, the data collected pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall be reported to the Superintendent biennially on or before
August 1. Beginning in 2010, the Superintendent shall prepare
biennially a report on the data collected pursuant to subdivision (a)
for the Legislature on or before January 1.
52985. It is the intent of the Legislature that state agencies
involved in the Financial Literacy Advisory Committee shall actively
support the initiative. State agencies in the executive branch of
government, including boards, commissions, and constitutional
officers, shall use existing resources for the initiative if they
elect to participate.