Florida Financial Literacy Bill Gains Momentum

On the heels of rising concerns in Florida’s business community that graduating students entering the state’s workforce lack critical education in finance, Florida House Bill 367 is picking up steam in its proposed requirement that of the state’s high school students would need to complete a financial literacy course as a prerequisite to graduating.

The process for moving through the legislative environment has begun, as the bill’s sixty day timeframe for discussion was kicked off on March 4th.  To date, more than thirty-three percent of the Florida House are co-sponsoring the bill, which legislative watchers are predicting should bode well for the bill’s passage with only a few weeks remaining in the discussion phase of the process.

While momentum has continued to build in the U.S. for financial education in high schools, fewer than ten states require the completion of a financial literacy course in order to graduate.   Among the states that have been at the forefront of this movement are Tennessee, Virginia, Utah and Missouri.

Financial literacy proponents continue to lobby their respective state legislators for action to propose and pass legislation aimed at boosting the low levels of financial literacy currently exhibited among young people.  It is widely anticipated that this trend will continue in the months ahead and many predict that the Florida bill’s passage could add even more fuel to the process in other states to move more quickly in enacting financial education measures during the current legislative sessions in states across the country.