Establishes that instruction in financial education be provided to pupils in grades nine through twelve; establishes what should be included in such curriculum including the basics of financial planning, budgeting, borrowing, interest rates, personal insurance policies, etc.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A109
SPONSOR: Berger TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a
requirement that instruction in financial education be provided to all
pupils in grades nine, ten, eleven or twelve
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would require that high school students have financial educa-
tion integrated into their curricula for high school students, including
personal financial planning and budgeting, understanding of the income
and property tax systems, basic understanding of personal insurance
policies and understanding state and federal laws concerning personal
and commercial finance.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Adds a new section 803-b to the education law
JUSTIFICATION:
The present times have shown that young adults, more and more, are being
required to be more financially independent in their daily lives. By the
time they leave high school and go to college, many teens already have a
job, pay taxes, have a checking account, a credit card, and some level
of debt. At the same time of this expanding responsibility, there has
not been an increase in the knowledge about finance issues among these
young adults. They may have a checking account and credit card, but do
not fully understand the implications of using both, or even the process
that these financing mechanisms involve. Often, when asked what a credit
card does, many teens respond that the card offers free money with which
to make purchases, not realizing that it is actually a loan at a high
level of interest. By integrating a more detailed financial education
into the high school curricula (either in existing classes or by creat-
ing new ones), students will be better equipped to understand how to
maintain a personal budget, manage debt, and realize the mechanics and
implications of collection and uses of various kinds of taxes.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2005-2016: Referred to Education
2017: A1174- Referred to Education
2018: A9752- Referred to Education
2020: A1357- Referred to Education
2023: A5430- Referred to Education
2023: A5430- Stricken
2024: A8216- Referredto Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
109
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BERGER, SHIMSKY, LUPARDO, MAHER, BEEPHAN -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a
requirement that instruction in financial education be provided to all
pupils in grades nine, ten, eleven or twelve
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 803-c
2 to read as follows:
3 § 803-c. Instruction relating to financial education. 1. All pupils in
4 grades nine, ten, eleven or twelve in all public schools in the state
5 shall receive a course or full unit of instruction in financial educa-
6 tion delivered by means of a comprehensive financial literacy program.
7 2. The requirements of this section may be fulfilled through the
8 finance unit of the required high school economics course or the contin-
9 uation of financial management courses currently being taught in public
10 secondary schools. Additional courses are encouraged to be developed and
11 approved at the local level.
12 3. The board of education or trustees of the school district is
13 charged with developing and maintaining a financial literacy program for
14 secondary school pupils that shall include, but not be limited to,
15 instruction in the following:
16 a. recognizing the relationship between financial planning and attain-
17 ing financial goals;
18 b. opening and maintaining banking and checking accounts and assessing
19 the quality of banking services;
20 c. developing a personal budget;
21 d. analyzing spending, credit purchasing, credit scoring, and managing
22 debt, including retail and credit card debt;
23 e. calculating interest rates by various methods;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00709-01-5
A. 109 2
1 f. evaluating borrowing options;
2 g. assessing the implications of an inheritance;
3 h. computing state and federal income taxes, understanding net versus
4 gross income and required tax deductions;
5 i. analyzing local tax assessments;
6 j. assessing different types of investments and how investments help
7 to achieve personal goals;
8 k. recognizing how investments help to achieve financial goals
9 throughout the stages of an individual's life;
10 l. analyzing state and federal laws concerning finance;
11 m. recognizing the basic principles of personal insurance policies;
12 n. analyzing regulatory agencies and their role;
13 o. recognizing the importance of planning for retirement and analyzing
14 retirement planning options; and
15 p. recognizing the importance of insurance as an essential element of
16 financial security.
17 4. The commissioner shall provide assistance at the local level to aid
18 in the development of curricula for courses of study which shall be age
19 appropriate and developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils
20 in grades nine, ten, eleven or twelve.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
22 it shall have become a law.
