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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Rainaldi

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/23/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Native American Financial Literacy Training

SB 84

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 84 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to the Indian Affairs

Department for culturally appropriate financial literacy training for teens and adults in the

Ramah Chapter of the Navajo Nation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to

the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Public Education Department notes:

In 2003 Congress established the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC),

through the passage of the Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act, which was

created to "improve the financial literacy and education of persons in the United States through

Senate Bill 84 – Page

2

development of a national strategy to promote financial literacy and education."

(

http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/financial-institution/fin-education/commission/

The U.S. government has established the website,

http://www.MyMoney.gov

, dedicated to

teaching all Americans the basics about financial education. U.S. teens have enormous

purchasing power but often lack the skills to manage resources well.

http://www.fcs.uga.edu/ext/econ/youth.php

The Indian Affairs Department adds:

According to volunteers with the New Mexico “Focus on the Future" financial literacy program,

financial literacy is becoming an important skill for people to learn as more young people are

facing issues with overspending and credit card debt. The National Foundation for Credit

Counseling estimates that only a minority of Americans keep close track of their expenses and

one in four Americans don’t pay their credit cards in full each month. SB 84 would create a

financial literacy program in the Ramah Chapter to help Native Americans in this community

MW/mt