I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4335 
To promote youth financial education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2007 
Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. 
CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, 
Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 
JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KIL-
PATRICK, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. MCCARTHY 
of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MEEKS of New 
York, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. 
PASTOR, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. LINDA T. 
SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SCOTT 
of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SIRES, Mr. TAN-
NER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. 
JONES of Ohio, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WATT, 
Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WYNN, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. HIGGINS, and 
Mr. KUCINICH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To promote youth financial education. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. PROMOTING YOUTH FINANCIAL LITERACY. 
Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘PART D—PROMOTING YOUTH FINANCIAL 
LITERACY 
‘‘SEC. 4401. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS. 
‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This part may be cited as the 
‘Youth Financial Education Act’. 
‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) In order to succeed in our dynamic Amer-
ican economy, young people must obtain the skills, 
knowledge, and experience necessary to manage their 
personal finances and obtain general financial lit-
eracy. All young adults should have the educational 
tools necessary to make informed financial decisions. 
‘‘(2) Despite the critical importance of financial 
literacy to young people, the average student who 
graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the 
management of personal financial affairs. A nation-
wide survey conducted in 2006 by the Jump$tart 
Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy examined 
the financial knowledge of 5,775 12th graders. On 
average, survey respondents answered only 52 per-
cent of the questions correctly. This figure is up only 
slightly from the 50 percent average score in 2002. 
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‘‘(3) An evaluation by the National Endowment 
for Financial Education High School Financial 
Planning Program undertaken jointly with the 
United States Department of Agriculture Coopera-
tive State Research, Education, and Extension Serv-
ice demonstrates that as little as 10 hours of class-
room instruction can impart substantial knowledge 
and affect significant change in how teens handle 
their money. 
‘‘(4) State educational leaders have recognized 
the importance of providing a basic financial edu-
cation to students in kindergarten through grade 12 
by integrating financial education into State edu-
cational standards, but by 2004, only 7 States re-
quired students to complete a course that covered 
personal finance before graduating from high school. 
‘‘(5) Teacher training and professional develop-
ment are critical to achieving youth financial lit-
eracy. Teachers should be given the tools they need 
to educate our Nation’s youth on personal finance 
and economics. 
‘‘(6) Personal financial education helps prepare 
students for the workforce and for financial inde-
pendence by developing their sense of individual re-
sponsibility, improving their life skills, and providing 
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them with a thorough understanding of consumer 
economics that will benefit them for their entire 
lives. 
‘‘(7) Financial education integrates instruction 
in valuable life skills with instruction in economics, 
including income and taxes, money management, in-
vestment and spending, and the importance of per-
sonal savings. 
‘‘(8) The consumers and investors of tomorrow 
are in our schools today. The teaching of personal 
finance should be encouraged at all levels of our Na-
tion’s 
educational 
system, 
from 
kindergarten 
through grade 12. 
‘‘(9) Despite worrisome data about the lack of 
basic financial literacy among our Nation’s high 
school students, the Department of Education obli-
gates less than 1 percent of its educational improve-
ment funds toward financial education efforts. 
‘‘SEC. 4402. STATE GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au-
thorized to provide grants to State educational agencies 
to develop and integrate youth financial education pro-
grams for students in elementary schools and secondary 
schools. 
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‘‘(b) STATE PLAN.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, a State educational agency shall submit 
an application that includes a State plan that is approved 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FACTORS.—Except as other-
wise provided in paragraphs (2) through (4), the 
Secretary shall allocate the amounts made available 
to carry out this section pursuant to subsection (a) 
as follows: 
‘‘(A) The first $100,000,000 for a fiscal 
year shall be allocated on a competitive basis 
based solely upon the merit of the applications 
submitted. 
‘‘(A) Any remaining amounts shall be allo-
cated to each State according to the relative 
populations in all the States of students in kin-
dergarten through grade 12, as determined by 
the Secretary based on the most recent satisfac-
tory data. 
‘‘(2) MINIMUM
ALLOCATION.—Subject to the 
availability of appropriations and notwithstanding 
paragraph (1), a State that has submitted a plan 
under subsection (b) that is approved by the Sec-
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retary shall be allocated an amount that is not less 
than $500,000 for a fiscal year. 
‘‘(3) REALLOCATION.—In any fiscal year an al-
location under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) for a State that has not submitted a 
plan under subsection (b); or 
‘‘(B) for a State whose plan submitted 
under subsection (b) has been disapproved by 
the Secretary; 
shall be reallocated to States with approved plans 
under this section in accordance with paragraph (1). 
‘‘(4) FUNDING THRESHOLD.—Until appropria-
tions 
for 
programs 
under 
this 
Act 
exceed 
$30,000,000, the Secretary shall conduct an annual 
competitive application process with funding distrib-
uted among the States based solely upon the merit 
of the applications submitted. 
‘‘(d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIRED
USES.—A grant made to a 
State educational agency under this part shall be 
used— 
‘‘(A) to provide funds to local educational 
agencies and public schools to carry out finan-
cial education programs for students in kinder-
garten through grade 12 based on the concept 
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of achieving financial literacy through the 
teaching of personal financial management 
skills and the basic principles involved with 
earning, spending, saving, investing, credit, and 
insurance; 
‘‘(B) to carry out professional development 
programs to prepare teachers and administra-
tors for financial education; and 
‘‘(C) to monitor and evaluate programs 
supported under subparagraphs (A) and (B). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 
A State educational agency receiving a grant under 
subsection (a) may use not more than 4 percent of 
the total amount of the grant in each fiscal year for 
the administrative costs of carrying out this section. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS BY STATES.—In order to receive 
an allotment under this section for any fiscal year, a State 
shall submit to the Secretary, at such time as the Sec-
retary may require, an application that— 
‘‘(1) designates the State educational agency as 
the agency responsible for the administration and 
supervision of programs assisted under this part; 
‘‘(2) describes how the State educational agency 
will use funds received under this part, including 
funds reserved for State-level activities; 
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‘‘(8) provides an assurance that the application 
was developed in consultation and coordination with 
appropriate State officials, including the chief State 
school officer, representatives of teachers, the busi-
ness community, and community-based organiza-
tions; and 
‘‘(9) describes how the State educational agency 
will evaluate the effectiveness of programs and ac-
tivities carried out under this part, which shall in-
clude, at a minimum— 
‘‘(A) a description of the performance indi-
cators and performance measures that will be 
used to evaluate programs and activities; and 
‘‘(B) public dissemination of the evalua-
tions of programs and activities carried out 
under this part. 
‘‘(f) LOCAL COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds 
under this part for a fiscal year shall provide the 
amount made available under this section to eligible 
entities in accordance with this part. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re-
ceive an award under this part, an eligible enti-
ty shall submit an application to the State edu-
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