[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8944 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8944

 To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a personal finance 
    education portal on a centralized website of the Department of 
             Education pertaining to Federal financial aid.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 8, 2024

 Ms. Leger Fernandez introduced the following bill; which was referred 
            to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a personal finance 
    education portal on a centralized website of the Department of 
             Education pertaining to Federal financial aid.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Financial Fitness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Nearly 45,300,000 people owe an average of $37,338 in 
        Federal student loans, and student loan debt in the United 
        States totals $1,765,000,000,000. The average student loan debt 
        has tripled since 2007.
            (2) Student debt has significant racial equity 
        implications. Approximately half of Black college students are 
        using Federal student loans to cover educational costs, and 
        Black college graduates are still substantially more likely 
        than white college graduates to default on their debt within 4 
        years of graduation. In addition, the default rate for Black 
        borrowers is substantially higher than white borrowers (17 
        percent versus 9 percent). Students who are veterans, parents, 
        first-generation college students, or low income are also 
        likely to face higher risk of default.
            (3) As of 2022, 18 percent of Hispanic and Latino college 
        graduates who had taken out loans for tuition and school 
        expenses were behind on their payments, in contrast with 9 
        percent of White student borrowers. Hispanic and Latino 
        borrowers also were the most likely to delay getting married 
        and having children due to student loan debt.
            (4) Native American financial status remains among the 
        lowest of all minority populations in the Nation. Native people 
        are the least likely of all population groups, including other 
        minorities, to plan for retirement, have an emergency fund, or 
        have a checking account.
            (5) Among college graduates with any outstanding debt for 
        their education, first-generation college graduates tend to owe 
        more.
            (6) Student debt among older adults has steadily increased, 
        with many individuals taking on debt to finance higher 
        education for their children and grandchildren.
            (7) Despite the fact that many students and families must 
        make substantial and highly consequential decisions about 
        student loan borrowing and face growing college affordability 
        challenges, only 17 States make personal finance a required 
        part of basic education.
            (8) Of non-retired American adults, 42 percent age 18-29 
        have no retirement savings; 26 percent of those age 30-44; 17 
        percent of those age 45-59; and 13 percent of those over age 
        60.
            (9) People with self-directed retirement savings (nearly 7 
        in 10 non-retired adults) must make decisions about how the 
        money is invested. Six in 10 non-retirees with these self-
        directed accounts express low levels of comfort in making 
        investment decisions with their retirement savings.
            (10) The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the need to provide 
        families with better tools to weather financial challenges, 
        with a rapid spike in unemployment occurring in mid-2020, along 
        with significant shifts to individuals' housing and 
        transportation needs.
            (11) Nearly 1 in 10 student loan borrowers end up in 
        default, and even more struggle to repay their loans, 
        indicating an important need to ensure borrowers can access 
        information to help them navigate repayment and succeed 
        financially.

SEC. 3. PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION PORTAL.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the 
Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Secretary 
of the Treasury as chair of the Financial Literacy and Education 
Commission, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall establish a 
personal finance education portal on a centralized and publicly 
available website of the Department of Education pertaining to Federal 
financial aid for the voluntary use by recipients of aid awarded under 
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).
    (b) Content of Personal Finance Education Portal.--The personal 
finance education portal established under subsection (a) shall include 
information on personal finance concepts, including the following:
            (1) Core personal finance concepts, such as earning, 
        saving, investing, spending, and borrowing, including--
                    (A) the concept of compound growth as it applies to 
                savings and retirement savings, with information about 
                the different types of retirement savings accounts; and
                    (B) budgeting and credit usage.
            (2) Managing student loan repayment, including--
                    (A) the interaction between savings and retirement 
                decisions and Federal student loan repayment plans;
                    (B) Federal student loan discharge or forgiveness 
                options;
                    (C) the types of voluntary benefits employers may 
                use to help workers while they are paying down student 
                loan debt;
                    (D) tax credits or deductions that are relevant to 
                student loan borrowers in repayment;
                    (E) how to interpret loan terms and conditions;
                    (F) how to distinguish between Federal student 
                loans and private student loans and their benefits; and
                    (G) any other Federal policies that significantly 
                impact student loan borrowers in repayment, as 
                determined by the Secretary of Education.
            (3) Any other personal finance concepts determined relevant 
        by the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the 
        Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 
        Secretary of the Treasury as chair of the Financial Literacy 
        and Education Commission, and the Commissioner of Internal 
        Revenue.
    (c) Provision of Content.--The personal finance content included 
under subsection (b) may be provided in an interactive format through 
text or video.
    (d) Analytics.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with 
the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 
Secretary of the Treasury as chair of the Financial Literacy and 
Education Commission, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall 
review not less than once every three years the utilization of the 
portal established under subsection (a) and make such findings publicly 
available.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2027.
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