Florida Senate - 2014                            (NP)    SR 1728
       
       
        
       By Senator Hukill
       
       
       
       
       
       8-03386A-14                                           20141728__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing April 2014 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 Smith-Lever Act created the
   13  Cooperative Extension Service to provide a learning experience
   14  that would develop skills that people needed at home, on the
   15  farm, and in their communities, including financial skills, and
   16         WHEREAS, in 1919, Junior Achievement, a nonprofit youth
   17  organization, was founded to work with local businesses and
   18  organizations to deliver financial literacy, entrepreneurship,
   19  and work-readiness education, and
   20         WHEREAS, the 1950s marked a time when issues relating to
   21  financial management, including retirement security, composed 50
   22  percent of the research that was conducted in the field of home
   23  economics, with financial literacy continuing to gain greater
   24  prominence in the field of education and beyond, and
   25         WHEREAS, in 1995, William E. Odom, former chairman and CEO
   26  of Ford Motor Credit Corporation, developed the concept that led
   27  to the formation of the Jump$tart Coalition, and
   28         WHEREAS, Jump$tart is a nonprofit organization that
   29  includes about 150 national organizations and entities
   30  consisting of corporate, nonprofit, academic, government, and
   31  other groups working to advance financial literacy among
   32  students in prekindergarten to college, and
   33         WHEREAS, in 1996, Dr. Lewis Mandell developed the financial
   34  literacy survey that now is a hallmark of the Jump$tart
   35  Coalition’s work, and Dr. Mandell provided the guidelines that
   36  evolved into the National Standards in K-12 Personal Financial
   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
   43  Resolution 316, which officially recognized April 2004 as
   44  “National Financial 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 launched a unified
   49  financial literacy initiative called “360 Degrees of Financial
   50  Literacy” to address the widespread financial illiteracy
   51  epidemic, and
   52         WHEREAS, in 2008, President George W. Bush signed Executive
   53  Order 13455, which created the President’s Advisory Council on
   54  Financial Literacy to recommend steps that should be taken to
   55  enhance the state of financial literacy in the United States,
   56  and
   57         WHEREAS, in 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank
   58  Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, creating the
   59  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to promote financial
   60  education, among other things, and
   61         WHEREAS, in 2011, President Barack Obama designated April
   62  2011 as “National Financial Literacy Month,” declaring that
   63  during this month we recommit to improving financial literacy
   64  and ensuring all Americans have access to trustworthy financial
   65  services and products, and
   66         WHEREAS, in 2012, 52 percent of teens polled said they
   67  wanted to learn more about how to manage their money and that
   68  they were particularly interested in learning more about basic
   69  personal finance topics such as budgeting, saving, checking
   70  accounts, and investing, and
   71         WHEREAS, in 2013, 40 percent of adults polled gave
   72  themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal
   73  finance, and 78 percent said they agreed that they could benefit
   74  from additional advice and answers to everyday financial
   75  questions from a professional, and
   76         WHEREAS, today, Americans carry more than $2 trillion in
   77  consumer debt, with 30 percent of consumers reporting that they
   78  have no extra cash, making it impossible to escape the burden of
   79  living paycheck to paycheck, and
   80         WHEREAS, currently, 43 states require some form of
   81  financial literacy content to be taught in high schools, with 19
   82  states requiring an individual financial literacy course to be
   83  offered and 17 states requiring an individual financial literacy
   84  course to be taken, and
   85         WHEREAS, National Financial Literacy Month is recognized in
   86  the United States each April in an effort to highlight the
   87  importance of financial literacy, to teach Americans how to
   88  establish and maintain healthy financial habits, and to remind
   89  us of the importance of teaching students how to be financially
   90  savvy, empowering them to be economically successful throughout
   91  their lives, NOW, THEREFORE,
   92  
   93  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   94  
   95         That April 2014 is recognized as “Financial Literacy Month”
   96  in Florida and that all residents of this state are urged to
   97  recognize that financial literacy is an important part of our
   98  students’ education in order to ensure their bright futures.