Amended in Assembly March 17, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent ResolutionNo. 39


Introduced by Assembly Member Dababneh

February 27, 2015


Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 39—Relative to Financial Aid and Literacy Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 39, as amended, Dababneh. Financial Aid and Literacy Month.

This measure would declare the month of April 2015 as Financial Aid and Literacy Month, with the theme of begin delete“Financial Wellness: A Family Affair,”end deletebegin insert “Prosperity Through Education,end insertbegin insertend insert to raise public awareness about the continuing need for increased financial literacy.

Fiscal committee: no.

P1    1WHEREAS, The President’s Advisory Council on Financial
2Capability urges the integration of personal finance into the
3teaching of math and English language arts common core academic
4content standards for K-12 education as well as other subjects;
5and

6WHEREAS, California law requires that financial education,
7including budgeting, managing credit, student loans, consumer
8debt, and identity theft security, is included in the next revision of
9the social sciences, health, and mathematics curricula; and

10WHEREAS, In Junior Achievement’s 2014 Teens and Personal
11Finance Survey, 77 percent of male teens and 63 percent of female
12teens 16 to 18 years of age said they do not keep track of their
13money; and

P2    1WHEREAS, Eighty-five percent of American parents believe
2that financial education courses should be a requirement for high
3school graduation and 52 percent of teenagers want to learn more
4about budgeting, saving, and investing; and

5WHEREAS, According to a poll by Northeastern University’s
6Innovation Imperative Initiative, more than 80 percent of students
716 to 19 years of age believe obtaining a college degree is
8important to having a career, but 67 percent are worried they will
9not be able to afford college; and

10WHEREAS, In Sallie Mae’s “How America Saves for College
112014,” the proportion of families saving for college declined during
12the recession from 62 percent in 2009 to 50 percent in 2013; and

13WHEREAS, The total average savings for higher education is
14$15,346, which is up from $11,781 in 2014; and

15WHEREAS, In 2014, student loan debt soared by more than 11
16percent; and

17WHEREAS, When it comes to where families put money, more
18parents use a general savings account (45 percent in 2014,
19compared with 42 percent in 2013) than any other method of
20saving, ahead of a 529 plan (29 percent in 2014, compared with
2127 percent in 2013) and a checking account (24 percent in 2014,
22compared with 27 percent in 2013); and

23WHEREAS, Only 40 percent of adults keep a budget and track
24their spending, 75 percent of American families say they live
25paycheck to paycheck, and more than 25 percent of American
26families have no savings at all; and

27WHEREAS, Statistics compiled by LearnVest and Chase
28Blueprint show that for Americans 45 to 54 years of age, the
29median saved for retirement is only $101,000, and 38 percent of
30adults are concerned about being able to retire on time; and

31WHEREAS, Only 5 percent of adults say they were taught about
32money by a teacher, and 40 percent would give themselves Cs,
33Ds, or Fs on their grasp of personal finance concepts; and

34WHEREAS, Twenty-five percent of adults do not think any
35amount of debt is manageable, and 45 percent said that they could
36only handle debt payments of $100 a month; and

37WHEREAS, Nearly 67 percent of adults are concerned about
38being able to get a job, 60 percent expressed concern about having
39enough money as adults, and nearly 33 percent said college costs
P3    1are “not worth it” and that the “costs will outweigh the benefits”;
2and

3WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve, the total United
4States outstanding consumer debt, including car and student loans
5as well as revolving debt, was $3.24 trillion as of July 2014; and

6WHEREAS, Collectively, American consumers owe $11.52
7trillion to lenders and creditors and the debt burden is continuing
8to increase; and

9WHEREAS, According to CreditCards.com, the average credit
10card debt per American adult, excluding zero-balance cards and
11store cards, is $4,878.43; and

12WHEREAS, The average interest rate paid on credit card
13balances is over 13 percent annual percentage rate (APR); and

14WHEREAS, Children as young as five years old have shown
15an increase in depression and anxiety stemming from their parents’
16unemployment and financial problems; and

17WHEREAS, Children whose families endured financial
18hardships during the children’s adolescence became parents earlier
19than their peers and also treated their children more harshly; and

20WHEREAS, According to T. Rowe Price’s 2014 Parents, Kids
21& Money Survey, 69 percent of parents are “very/extremely”
22concerned about setting a good financial example for their kids,
23but 74 percent admit they are reluctant to approach the topic
24because they do not want their kids to worry; and

25WHEREAS, The State of California established the Bank on
26California Program to raise awareness among unbanked consumers
27about the benefits of account ownership and to spur Californians
28to open accounts; and

29WHEREAS, The Bank on California Program makes quality
30money management education more easily available to low-income
31Californians and raises statewide awareness of the unbanked
32problem and potential solutions; and

33WHEREAS, An estimated 7.8 percent of Californians are
34unbanked and an additional 18 percent are considered underbanked;
35and

36WHEREAS, The average unbanked Californian pays $1,000 a
37year to cash paychecks; and

38WHEREAS, Californians with bank accounts are more likely
39to save, have higher credit scores, and get better-priced car and
40home loans; and

begin insert

P4    1WHEREAS, Many employers, government agencies, schools,
2service groups, community organizations, libraries, financial
3institutions, and nonprofit entities, including, but not limited to,
4FDIC: Money Smart, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s
5Office of Financial Empowerment, the California Jump$tart
6Coalition, the CalCPA Financial Literacy Committee, the New
7America Foundation, SparkPoint Centers, America Saves, the
8United Way Financial Literacy Program, Junior Achievement
9Finance Park, and the Girl Scouts of America, have created
10programs to help people improve their financial literacy skills;
11and

end insert

12WHEREAS, Resolutions similar to this resolution have been
13introduced and passed with strong bipartisan support to increase
14awareness of the need for financial literacy for California citizens;
15now, therefore, be it

16Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
17thereof concurring,
That the Legislature hereby declares the month
18of April 2015 as Financial Aid and Literacy Month, with the theme
19ofbegin delete “Financial Wellness: A Family Affair,”end deletebegin insert “Prosperity Through
20Education,”end insert
to raise public awareness about the continuing need
21for increased financial literacy; and be it further

22Resolved, That legislators, employers,begin insert government agencies,end insert
23 schools, service groups, community organizations, libraries,
24financial institutions, andbegin delete the mediaend deletebegin insert other nonprofit entitiesend insert should
25be encouraged to providebegin delete opportunities for financial literacy
26education forend delete
all Californiansbegin delete through a variety of means to provide
27outreach and education;end delete
begin insert with the opportunity to obtain or improve
28their financial literacy skills;end insert
and be it further

29Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
30of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.



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