FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS

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HOUSE BILL NO. 90

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA

THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION

BY REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID

Introduced: 2/10/25
Referred: Education, Finance

A BILL

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

"An Act establishing a financial literacy education program for p u b l i c s c h o o l s ; a n d 1
providing for an effective date." 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
* Section 1. AS 14.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 4
Article 17. Financial Literacy Education Program. 5
Sec. 14.30.850. Financial litera cy education program. (a) Each school 6
district shall establish a literacy education program for stude nts in grades nine through 7
12. The program must be approved by the department. The departm ent shall curate 8
and make available to s chool districts a lis t of open education al resources that are 9
approved by the department that in combination address the topi cs listed in (1) - (14) 10
of this subsection. The list sha ll include open e ducational resources that address the 11
topic listed in (15) of this subsection if those resources are available. The department 12
shall update this list at least once every five years. A school district may provide the 13
program through one or more cour ses offered by the school distr ict, but the program's 14
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hours of instruction must in the aggregate be equivalent to a o ne-half credit hour 1
course. A school may not issue a high school diploma to a stude nt unless the student 2
has completed a financial litera cy program under this section. The program must 3
include, to the maximum extent practicable, discussion of or instruction on 4
(1) different types of financial institutions and opening and managing 5
an account with a financial institution; 6
(2) making a budget; 7
(3) basic principles of money ma nagement, including spending, credit, 8
credit scores, and managing retail debt, credit card debt, and other types of debt; 9
(4) basic principles of completing a loan application; 10
(5) basic principles of personal insurance policies; 11
(6) basic computation of federal income taxes; 12
(7) avoiding fraud, financial deception, and predatory lending 13
practices; 14
(8) simple contracts; 15
(9) contesting an incorrect billing statement; 16
(10) computing interest rates by various mechanisms; 17
(11) types of savings and investments; 18
(12) basic principles of retirement accounts; 19
(13) receiving an inheritance and related financial implications; 20
(14) postsecondary financial aid and scholarships; and 21
(15) financial implications of being a member or a beneficiary o f a 22
Native corporation established under 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (Al aska Native Claims 23
Settlement Act) or a similar entity, including payment of divid e n d s a n d i s s u a n c e o f 24
shares. 25
(b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a school may issue a secondary school 26
diploma to a student who has not c ompleted the program describe d in (a) of this 27
section if the student transfe rred into the school district fro m another school district, 28
state, or country after completing grade 10. 29
(c) In this section, 30
(1) "open educational resource" means learning, teaching, or r esearch 31
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material in any format that resi des in the public domain or is under copyright and has 1
been released under an open license that permits access at no c ost as well as reuse, 2
repurpose, adaptation, and redistribution by others; 3
(2) "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 4
* Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 5
read: 6
APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to students who will graduate f rom high school 7
on or after January 1, 2027. 8
* Sec. 3. This Act takes effect July 1, 2026. 9