Full Text of SR0243 98th General Assembly
SR0243 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, This State's students lack the financial literacy | 3 | | necessary to manage finances in adulthood; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, According to the 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy | 5 | | Survey Final Report of the National Foundation for Credit | 6 | | Counseling, 41% of adults in the United States, or more than | 7 | | 77,000,000 adults living in the United States, gave themselves | 8 | | a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, According to the National Bankruptcy Research | 11 | | Center, the number of personal bankruptcy filings reached | 12 | | 1,500,000 in 2010, the highest number since 2005, and, in 2011, | 13 | | the percentage of total consumer filings increased from 2010; | 14 | | and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted | 16 | | by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that only 13% | 17 | | of workers were "very confident" about having enough money for | 18 | | a comfortable retirement, a sharp decline in worker confidence | 19 | | from the 27% of workers who were "very confident" in 2007; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, According to a 2011 "Flow of Funds" report by the | 21 | | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, household |
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| 1 | | debt stood at $13,200,000,000,000 at the end of the third | 2 | | quarter of 2010; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, According to the 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy | 4 | | Survey Final Report of the National Foundation for Credit | 5 | | Counseling, 28%, or nearly 64,000,000 adults, admit to not | 6 | | paying all of their bills on time; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, According to the 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy | 8 | | Survey Final Report of the National Foundation for Credit | 9 | | Counseling, only 43% of adults keep close track of their | 10 | | spending, and more than 128,400,000 adults do not know how much | 11 | | they spend on food, housing, and entertainment and do not | 12 | | monitor their overall spending; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, According to the 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy | 14 | | Survey Final Report of the National Foundation for Credit | 15 | | Counseling, one in 3 adults in the United States, or more than | 16 | | 75,600,000 individuals, report that they have no savings, and | 17 | | only 22% of adults in the United States are now saving more | 18 | | than they did a year ago because of the current economic | 19 | | climate; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, According to the Gallup-Operation HOPE Financial | 21 | | Literacy Index, while 69% of American students strongly believe | 22 | | that the best time to save money is now, only 57% believe that |
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| 1 | | their parents are saving money for the future; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, According to the University of Wisconsin, 89% of | 3 | | teachers in grades kindergarten through 12 believe that either | 4 | | financial literacy courses or passing a financial literacy | 5 | | competency test should be a requirement for high school | 6 | | graduation, but only 20% of teachers rate themselves as "very | 7 | | competent" to teach financial literacy; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Expanding access to the mainstream financial | 9 | | system will provide individuals with less expensive and more | 10 | | secure options for managing finances and building wealth; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Quality personal financial education is essential | 12 | | to ensure that individuals are prepared to manage money, | 13 | | credit, and debt and to become responsible workers, heads of | 14 | | households, investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and | 15 | | citizens; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Increased financial literacy empowers individuals | 17 | | to make wise financial decisions and reduces the confusion | 18 | | caused by an increasingly complex economy; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, A greater understanding of and familiarity with | 20 | | financial markets and institutions will lead to increased | 21 | | economic activity and growth; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, This State has appropriated $290,000 from the | 2 | | General Revenue Fund to the State Board of Education for | 3 | | economic education; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Significant functions of government are to | 5 | | provide primary and secondary education to the public and to | 6 | | otherwise improve the prosperity, health, and general welfare | 7 | | of the inhabitants of this State; therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 9 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that there is created the | 10 | | Financial Literacy Task Force consisting of 3 members of the | 11 | | Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, one of whom | 12 | | shall be designated the chairperson by the President of the | 13 | | Senate, and 2 members of the Senate appointed by the Minority | 14 | | Leader of the Senate, all of whom shall serve without | 15 | | compensation but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and | 16 | | necessary expenses from funds appropriated for that purpose; | 17 | | and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall | 19 | | design publications and website media to promote financial | 20 | | literacy education; and be it further
| 21 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall |
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| 1 | | establish an Internet website for teachers, students, and | 2 | | parents that would serve as a clearinghouse and coordinated | 3 | | entry point for accessing information about financial literacy | 4 | | programs, as well as publications, grants, and materials that | 5 | | promote enhanced financial literacy and education; and be it | 6 | | further | 7 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall | 8 | | conduct a formal review of the current personal finance | 9 | | standards taught in grades 9 through 12 and recommend | 10 | | revisions, including, but not limited to, integrating | 11 | | financial education into reading, language arts, and | 12 | | mathematics, and such recommendations shall be presented to the | 13 | | State Board of Education for consideration of statewide | 14 | | applicability; and be it further | 15 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall | 16 | | conduct a formal review of the benefits of implementing | 17 | | financial literacy education in grades kindergarten through 8; | 18 | | and be it further | 19 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall | 20 | | create a proposal for implementing financial literacy | 21 | | education in grades kindergarten through 8; and be it further | 22 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall |
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| 1 | | develop and report to the State Board of Education the means to | 2 | | include in existing standardized achievement testing for | 3 | | grades 9 through 12 the personal finance concepts of (i) | 4 | | decision-making, (ii) earning an income, (iii) saving and | 5 | | spending, (iv) use of credit, and (v) budgeting; and be it | 6 | | further | 7 | | RESOLVED, That the Financial Literacy Task Force shall | 8 | | receive the assistance of legislative staff, may employ skilled | 9 | | experts with the approval of the President of the Senate, and | 10 | | shall report its findings to the General Assembly on or before | 11 | | January 1, 2014; and be it further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide | 13 | | administrative and other support to the Task Force; and be it | 14 | | further | 15 | | RESOLVED, That State Board of Education shall fund the | 16 | | costs to prepare the proposals and studies mandated by this | 17 | | resolution with its economic education appropriations; and be | 18 | | it further | 19 | | RESOLVED, That the members of the Task Force shall be | 20 | | reimbursed for their travel expenses from appropriations to the | 21 | | State Board of Education available for that purpose and subject | 22 | | to the rules of the appropriate travel control board; and be it |
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| 1 | | further | 2 | | RESOLVED, That upon filing its report with the General | 3 | | Assembly, the Task Force is dissolved; and be it further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 | | delivered to the State Board of Education.
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