Lieu Resolution Declares April As “Financial Literacy Month”

Sacramento, CA – The State Assembly today unanimously approved ACR 40 by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) which declares April 2007 as “Financial Literacy Month” in the State of California.  Assemblymembers Roger Niello (R-Sacramento) and Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) were joint authors of the measure.

Financial Literacy is generally defined as the ability of persons to understand financial concepts such as saving, investing, and calculating compound interest.  A lack of this financial knowledge is especially problematic to the most vulnerable members of our society – the poor, the elderly, and minority groups. 

“This is a growing crisis,” Lieu said.  “There’s absolutely no way that people are ever going to get to a stable financial footing if we don’t make them aware of how to handle their money.”

Recent statistics show that the United States has the lowest personal savings rate in the industrialized world, and that almost half of all seniors do not feel secure in their retirement savings.  From 1990-2000, personal bankruptcies rose by 69%.  Poor handling of finances is also cited as a major contributor to identity theft.

Along with carrying ACR 40, Assemblymember Lieu also held an informational hearing of the Banking and Finance Committee earlier this year on financial literacy.  He is also authoring Assembly Bill 150, a bill to create a state clearinghouse of information on the topic for schools that want to teach financial literacy to their students.

Lieu described his multi-faceted approach to the problem: “The size and scope of this problem is so huge that we’re going to need every tool at our disposal to fix it.  It’s my hope that, if we keep raising awareness of this issue and developing resources, we’ll give Californians the tools they need.”

ACR 40 will now move to the State Senate, where it will be considered next week.