ASSEMBLYMEMBER TED LIEU
53RD ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
For Immediate Release: April 22, 2008
Contact: Ashlie Simpson
Phone: (916) 319-2053

Lieu Receives Prestigious Financial Literacy Honors

(Sacramento, CA) - Tomorrow, the California Jump$tart Coalition will honor Assemblymember Ted W. Lieu (D-Torrance) with its "Government Leadership in Financial Literacy" Award for championing financial literacy. 

"We are pleased that Assemblymember Lieu is the first recipient,” said Jim Greenwood, chairman of the California Jump$tart Coalition.  “He embodies the leadership that this award is meant to recognize."

The California Jump$tart Coalition periodically recognizes outstanding efforts by educators and community leaders to improve financial literacy with awards.  However, this is the first time in the history of the award that it has been given to a legislator.

Assemblymember Lieu is the author of AB 2123 which creates the California Financial Literacy Initiative - a clearinghouse of information on successful financial literacy programs geared to consumers of all ages.  The bill is sponsored by California State Controller John Chiang.  AB 2123 is in response to the growing number of people making devastating financial decisions due to inadequate financial education, resulting in such financial catastrophes as the mortgage crisis and plummeting credit scores.   Lieu also held two public hearings of the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee on the subjects of financial literacy and the unbanked.

“I am honored to receive this prestigious award,” Lieu said. “We send far too many young people into the world without the basic financial knowledge necessary to survive in an increasingly complex world. I’m just glad that I can be part of the movement to change that.”

The mission of the California Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is to improve the personal financial literacy of California’s youth by helping the personal finance education community become more connected, effective, and powerful; and by supporting the implementation of personal finance education at every level from K-12th grades. 

The award is being presented at tomorrow’s "Summit on Financial Literacy", which is hosted by the California Jump$tart Coalition and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.