BILL NUMBER: ACR 113	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  32
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 5, 2008
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MAY 1, 2008
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 24, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 24, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Niello and Lieu
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ma, Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson,
Arambula, Bass, Beall, Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre,
De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Dymally, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick,
Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston, Huff, Jeffries, Jones,
Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Maze,
Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Parra, Portantino, Sharon Runner,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland,
Swanson, Torrico, Villines, Walters, and Wolk)

                        MARCH 4, 2008

   Relative to Financial Literacy Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 113, Niello. Financial literacy education.
   This measure would declare the month of April 2008 as Financial
Literacy Month, in order to raise public awareness about the need for
increased financial literacy.



   WHEREAS, Californians' total personal income is 60 percent higher
than any other state and accounts for 13 percent of all personal
income in the United States; and
   WHEREAS, In 2007, credit card delinquencies nationwide rose 26
percent from 2006; and
   WHEREAS, Average credit card debt among low- and moderate-income
households is $8,650; and
   WHEREAS, Average credit card debt among indebted young adults,
ages 25 to 34, inclusive, increased by 55 percent from 1992 to 2001,
inclusive, to $4,088, and average credit card debt among adults ages
18 to 24 years, inclusive, increased by 104 percent; and
   WHEREAS, The number of families with any type of debt climbed to
76.4 percent during 2001-04, and the largest increase was for
families headed by persons 75 years of age or older; and
   WHEREAS, Over one-third of young adults own credit cards, and
young people receive little in the way of financial education; and
   WHEREAS, A large majority of workers who have allocated money for
retirement have little savings at all, and seven out of 10 of these
workers say that their assets total less than $10,000; and
   WHEREAS, The median amount in retirement accounts is $2,000; and
   WHEREAS, The savings rate for American consumers continues to fall
into negative numbers; and
   WHEREAS, Total United States consumer debt, which includes
installment debt, but not mortgage debt, reached $2.5 trillion in
November 2007, up from $2.398 trillion at the end of 2006; and
   WHEREAS, Ninety-eight percent of retirees regret how they spent
their money before retiring, and 97 percent of baby boomers share
this regret and are uncomfortable with how much debt they have
accumulated during their preretirement years; and
   WHEREAS, High school seniors taking part in a national survey of
financial knowledge scored an average of 52.4 percent, which is a
failing grade; and
   WHEREAS, Only seven states require high school pupils to take a
personal finance course in order to graduate, and only nine states
require high school pupils to pass a test on personal finance in
order to graduate; and
   WHEREAS, As pupils progress through school, credit card usage
swells, as 91 percent of final year college students have a credit
card compared to 42 percent of freshman students, and 56 percent of
final year students carry four or more credit cards, and 74 percent
of undergraduates use credit cards for school supplies; and
   WHEREAS, Increasing the financial literacy of all individuals is
documented to improve attitudes, lead to improved decisionmaking, and
provide for a more secure future for the individuals and their
families who have been educated in these issues; and
   WHEREAS, Financial literacy training may easily be integrated as a
valuable component for elementary and secondary schools, colleges
and universities, libraries, community groups, and citizen town hall
meetings; and
   WHEREAS, 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, but the audience to which this information is vital is not
being reached; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby declares the month of
April 2008 as Financial Literacy Month, in order to raise public
awareness about the need for increased financial literacy; and be it
further
   Resolved, That legislators, employers, schools, service groups,
community organizations, libraries, financial institutions, and the
media, be encouraged to provide opportunities for financial literacy
education for all Californians through a variety of means, including
collaboration with members of the California Society of Certified
Public Accountants, California Jump$tart Coalition, and others, in
order to provide outreach and education; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.