[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 232 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 232

  Encouraging greater public-private sector collaboration to promote 
           financial literacy for students and young adults.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 29, 2015

 Mr. Foster (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Meeks, Mrs. Torres, and Mr. 
 Tiberi) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Encouraging greater public-private sector collaboration to promote 
           financial literacy for students and young adults.

Whereas personal financial literacy is essential to ensuring that individuals 
        are prepared to make informed decisions about budgeting, financial 
        planning, wealth accumulation, higher education loans, 529 savings 
        plans, managing credit cards, and managing other debt;
Whereas many young people are ill-equipped to handle major financial decisions 
        in an increasingly complex financial marketplace;
Whereas personal financial management skills begin to develop during childhood;
Whereas the move away from traditional pensions and toward defined contribution 
        plans requires more financial education, so workers need to be equipped 
        with the financial aptitude to not only save and accumulate assets, but 
        also to turn those assets into lifetime income;
Whereas the Council for Economic Education found that only 16 States require 
        high schools to offer some type of personal finance course and only 15 
        States require that course for high school graduation;
Whereas a biannual study by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial 
        Literacy found that only 5 percent of high school seniors and only 25 
        percent of graduating college students can be considered financially 
        literate;
Whereas according to a study conducted by Sallie Mae, an increasing number of 
        high school seniors are obtaining credit cards and on average, a 
        graduating college student has credit card debt of $4,100;
Whereas a longitudinal research study by the University of Arizona found that 
        high school and college students who have been exposed to ongoing 
        financial education show an increase in financial knowledge;
Whereas the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection was created to educate 
        consumers and help consumers make better-informed financial decisions by 
        helping make the financial markets safer for consumers, increasing 
        transparency to enable individuals to compare products and make informed 
        decisions, and promoting policies that help consumers improve their 
        financial knowledge and capability;
Whereas the Bureau issued a report in 2013 that included a number of 
        recommendations to improve financial literacy for students;
Whereas section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection 
        Act (12 U.S.C. 5452) directs the Federal financial regulatory agencies 
        to partner with high schools in targeted areas to help promote financial 
        literacy and to create ``industry internships, summer employment, and 
        full-time positions'' for talented minorities and women;
Whereas the 2012 National Financial Capability Study, developed in consultation 
        with the Department of the Treasury and President Obama's Advisory 
        Council on Financial Capability, updates key measures from the 2009 
        National Financial Capability Study of American adults and deepens the 
        exploration of topics that are highly relevant today, including student 
        loans and medical debt;
Whereas the Money as You Learn initiative, a coalition of nonprofit and for-
        profit organizations, teachers, and academics, provides concrete tools 
        for educators to show how personal finance can provide appropriate 
        context and content for mathematics and English language arts teaching;
Whereas the Federal Reserve System offers publications in English and Spanish 
        that provide consumers tips on a broad range of topics, from avoiding 
        mortgage foreclosure scams to managing a checking account; and
Whereas a study conducted by Daniel Fernandes, John G. Lynch, Jr., and Richard 
        Netemeyer entitled ``Financial Literacy, Financial Education and 
        Downstream Financial Behaviors'' found that it ``is best to provide 
        assistance just before a decision is made in what is known as `just-in-
        time education''': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) emphasizes the importance of raising awareness of 
        individual financial capability by providing relevant 
        information, financial workshops, and other decisionmaking 
        tools to consumers of all ages;
            (2) supports the efforts of the President's Advisory 
        Council on Financial Literacy in working with the public and 
        private sectors to increase financial education for youth in 
        school and for young adults in the workplace, to increase 
        access to financial services, to establish measures of national 
        financial literacy, to conduct research on financial knowledge, 
        and to strengthen financial education programs;
            (3) reaffirms the purposes of section 342 of the Dodd-Frank 
        Act (12 U.S.C. 5452), which directs Federal financial agencies 
        to partner with organizations that are focused on developing 
        opportunities for minorities and women to place talented young 
        minorities and women in industry internships, summer 
        employment, and full-time positions;
            (4) supports the efforts of the Bureau of Consumer 
        Financial Protection to provide consumers with relevant 
        information and decisionmaking tools regarding important 
        financial decisions; and
            (5) urges the Department of the Treasury to consult with 
        the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and implement 
        future national financial capability studies.
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