An Act to Add a Personal Finance Course to the State Graduation
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0315
Sponsors: CROCKETT
Amends: 20-A MRSA §1, 20-A MRSA §254, 20-A MRSA §4722

Legislative Document
No. 315
H.P. 215
House of Representatives, February 3, 2025
An Act to Add a Personal Finance Course to the State Graduation 
Requirements in High Schools
Received by the Clerk of the House on January 30, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CROCKETT of Portland.
Cosponsored by Representatives: ARCHER of Saco, BELL of Yarmouth, BRIDGEO of 
Augusta, CARLOW of Buxton, LYMAN of Livermore Falls, MONTELL of Gardiner, 
ROLLINS of Augusta.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §1, sub-§20-B is enacted to read:
20-B.  Personal finance.  "Personal finance" means a course of study including 
instruction in the applications of money in areas such as saving, investing, banking and the 
stock market.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §254, sub-§13, as amended by PL 2015, c. 64, §1, is further 
amended to read:
13.  Technical assistance; integrated model for instruction in personal finance.  
The commissioner shall develop a program of technical assistance that promotes the 
importance of financial literacy and encourages requires school administrative units to 
implement an integrated model for instruction in personal finance that may must be used 
in secondary schools as part of the instruction in social studies or mathematics required by 
section 4722, subsection 2, paragraphs B and paragraph C.  The commissioner, in 
consultation with the Finance Authority of Maine, the Office of Securities within the 
Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Jobs for Maine's Graduates, 
organizations representing banks, credit unions and financial professionals and other 
interested organizations promoting personal finance initiatives, shall prepare and distribute 
annually, in January, a report to school boards and superintendents that includes strategies 
and resources available to implement an integrated model for instruction in personal 
finance for use in secondary schools.  The annual report must also be provided to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters, and the 
department shall post the report on its publicly accessible website.  The commissioner shall 
identify best practices to support students' financial literacy for those school administrative 
units that elect to offer financial literacy education pursuant to this subsection.
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §4722, sub-§2, ¶B, as amended by PL 2019, c. 202, §1, is 
further amended to read:
B.  Social studies and history, including American history, government, and civics and 
personal finance--2 years or the equivalent in standards achievement;
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §4722, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 2019, c. 202, §1, is 
further amended to read:
C.  Mathematics, including one year of personal finance--2 3 years or the equivalent in 
standards achievement;
SUMMARY
This bill requires that all secondary schools include one year of personal finance as part 
of the mathematics instruction required to obtain a high school diploma. It changes the 
minimum requirement for a high school diploma from 2 years of mathematics or the 
equivalent in standards achievement to 3 years of mathematics or the equivalent in 
standards achievement.