Representative Robert M. Spendlove proposes the following substitute bill:


1     
HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCIAL LITERACY AMENDMENTS

2     
2017 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Robert M. Spendlove

5     
Senate Sponsor: Ann Millner

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill amends provisions related to education loan information.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     defines terms;
13          ▸     adds a representative of the State Board of Regents to a task force that makes
14     recommendations related to financial literacy education;
15          ▸     requires an eligible postsecondary institution to provide information regarding a
16     borrower's education loans to the borrower;
17          ▸     provides that an eligible postsecondary institution does not incur liability for
18     information provided to a borrower regarding the borrower's education loans; and
19          ▸     requires the State Board of Regents to report to the Education Interim Committee on
20     the feasability of providing certain information about an education loan to a
21     borrower.
22     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
23          None
24     Other Special Clauses:
25          None

26     Utah Code Sections Affected:
27     AMENDS:
28          53A-13-110, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapter 415
29     ENACTS:
30          53B-1-112, Utah Code Annotated 1953
31     

32     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
33          Section 1. Section 53A-13-110 is amended to read:
34          53A-13-110. Financial and economic literacy education.
35          (1) As used in this section:
36          (a) "Financial and economic activities" include activities related to the topics listed in
37     Subsection (1)(b).
38          (b) "Financial and economic literacy concepts" include concepts related to the
39     following topics:
40          (i) basic budgeting;
41          (ii) saving and financial investments;
42          (iii) banking and financial services, including balancing a checkbook or a bank account
43     and online banking services;
44          (iv) career management, including earning an income;
45          (v) rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home;
46          (vi) retirement planning;
47          (vii) loans and borrowing money, including interest, credit card debt, predatory
48     lending, and payday loans;
49          (viii) insurance;
50          (ix) federal, state, and local taxes;
51          (x) charitable giving;
52          (xi) online commerce;
53          (xii) identity fraud and theft;
54          (xiii) negative financial consequences of gambling;
55          (xiv) bankruptcy;
56          (xv) free markets and prices;

57          (xvi) supply and demand;
58          (xvii) monetary and fiscal policy;
59          (xviii) effective business plan creation, including using economic analysis in creating a
60     plan;
61          (xix) scarcity and choices;
62          (xx) opportunity cost and tradeoffs;
63          (xxi) productivity;
64          (xxii) entrepreneurism; and
65          (xxiii) economic reasoning.
66          (c) "Financial and economic literacy passport" means a document that tracks mastery
67     of financial and economic literacy concepts and completion of financial and economic
68     activities in kindergarten through grade 12.
69          (d) "General financial literacy course" means the course of instruction described in
70     Section 53A-13-108.
71          (2) The State Board of Education shall:
72          (a) in cooperation with interested private and nonprofit entities:
73          (i) develop a financial and economic literacy passport that students may elect to
74     complete;
75          (ii) develop methods of encouraging parent and educator involvement in completion of
76     the financial and economic literacy passport; and
77          (iii) develop and implement appropriate recognition and incentives for students who
78     complete the financial and economic literacy passport, including:
79          (A) a financial and economic literacy endorsement on the student's diploma of
80     graduation;
81          (B) a specific designation on the student's official transcript; and
82          (C) any incentives offered by community partners;
83          (b) more fully integrate existing and new financial and economic literacy education
84     into instruction in kindergarten through grade 12 by:
85          (i) coordinating financial and economic literacy instruction with existing instruction in
86     other areas of the core standards for Utah public schools, such as mathematics and social
87     studies;

88          (ii) using curriculum mapping;
89          (iii) creating training materials and staff development programs that:
90          (A) highlight areas of potential coordination between financial and economic literacy
91     education and other core standards for Utah public schools concepts; and
92          (B) demonstrate specific examples of financial and economic literacy concepts as a
93     way of teaching other core standards for Utah public schools concepts; and
94          (iv) using appropriate financial and economic literacy assessments to improve financial
95     and economic literacy education and, if necessary, developing assessments;
96          (c) work with interested public, private, and nonprofit entities to:
97          (i) identify, and make available to teachers, online resources for financial and
98     economic literacy education, including modules with interactive activities and turnkey
99     instructor resources;
100          (ii) coordinate school use of existing financial and economic literacy education
101     resources;
102          (iii) develop simple, clear, and consistent messaging to reinforce and link existing
103     financial literacy resources;
104          (iv) coordinate the efforts of school, work, private, nonprofit, and other financial
105     education providers in implementing methods of appropriately communicating to teachers,
106     students, and parents key financial and economic literacy messages; and
107          (v) encourage parents and students to establish higher education savings, including a
108     Utah Educational Savings Plan account;
109          (d) in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act,
110     make rules to develop guidelines and methods for school districts and charter schools to more
111     fully integrate financial and economic literacy education into other core standards for Utah
112     public schools courses;
113          (e) (i) contract with a provider, through a request for proposals process, to develop an
114     online, end-of-course assessment for the general financial literacy course;
115          (ii) require a school district or charter school to administer an online, end-of-course
116     assessment to a student who takes the general financial literacy course; and
117          (iii) develop a plan, through the state superintendent of public instruction, to analyze
118     the results of an online, end-of-course assessment in general financial literacy that includes:

119          (A) an analysis of assessment results by standard; and
120          (B) average scores statewide and by school district and school;
121          (f) in cooperation with school districts, charter schools, and interested private and
122     nonprofit entities, provide opportunities for professional development in financial and
123     economic literacy to teachers, including:
124          (i) a statewide learning community for financial and economic literacy;
125          (ii) summer workshops; and
126          (iii) online videos of experts in the field of financial and economic literacy education;
127     and
128          (g) implement a teacher endorsement in general financial literacy that includes course
129     work in financial planning, credit and investing, consumer economics, personal budgeting, and
130     family economics.
131          (3) A public school shall provide the following to the parents or guardian of a
132     kindergarten student during kindergarten enrollment:
133          (a) a financial and economic literacy passport; and
134          (b) information about higher education savings options, including information about
135     opening a Utah Educational Savings Plan account.
136          (4) (a) The State Board of Education shall establish a task force to study and make
137     recommendations to the board on how to improve financial and economic literacy education in
138     the public school system.
139          (b) The task force membership shall include representatives of:
140          (i) the State Board of Education;
141          (ii) school districts and charter schools; [and]
142          (iii) the State Board of Regents; and
143          [(iii)] (iv) private or public entities that teach financial education and share a
144     commitment to empower individuals and families to achieve economic stability, opportunity,
145     and upward mobility.
146          (c) In 2013, the task force shall:
147          (i) review and recommend modifications to the course standards and objectives of the
148     general financial literacy course described in Section 53A-13-108 to ensure the course
149     standards and objectives reflect current and relevant content consistent with the financial and

150     economic literacy concepts listed in Subsection (1)(b);
151          (ii) study the development of an online assessment of students' competency in financial
152     and economic literacy that may be used to:
153          (A) measure student learning growth and proficiency in financial and economic
154     literacy; and
155          (B) assess the effectiveness of instruction in financial and economic literacy;
156          (iii) consider the development of a rigorous, online only, course to fulfill the general
157     financial literacy curriculum and graduation requirements specified in Section 53A-13-108;
158          (iv) identify opportunities for teaching financial and economic literacy through an
159     integrated school curriculum and in the regular course of school work;
160          (v) study and make recommendations for educator license endorsements for teachers of
161     financial and economic literacy;
162          (vi) identify efficient and cost-effective methods of delivering professional
163     development in financial and economic literacy content and instructional methods; and
164          (vii) study how financial and economic literacy education may be enhanced through
165     community partnerships.
166          (d) The task force shall reconvene every three years to review and recommend
167     adjustments to the standards and objectives of the general financial literacy course.
168          (e) The State Board of Education shall make a report to the Education Interim
169     Committee no later than the committee's November 2013 meeting summarizing the findings
170     and recommendations of the task force and actions taken by the board in response to the task
171     force's findings and recommendations.
172          Section 2. Section 53B-1-112 is enacted to read:
173          53B-1-112. Education loan notifications.
174          (1) As used in this section:
175          (a) "Borrower" means:
176          (i) an individual enrolled in an eligible postsecondary institution who receives an
177     education loan; or
178          (ii) an individual, including a parent or legal guardian, who receives an education loan
179     to fund education expenses of an individual enrolled in an eligible postsecondary institution.
180          (b) "Education loan" means a loan made to a borrower that is:

181          (i) made directly by a federal or state program; or
182          (ii) insured or guaranteed under a federal or state program.
183          (c) "Eligible postsecondary institution" means a public or private postsecondary
184     institution that:
185          (i) is located in Utah; and
186          (ii) participates in federal student assistance programs under the Higher Education Act
187     of 1965, Title IV, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.
188          (2) Annually, on or before July 1, an eligible postsecondary institution that receives
189     information about a borrower's education loan shall:
190          (a) notify the borrower that the borrower has an education loan;
191          (b) direct the borrower to the National Student Loan Data System described in 20
192     U.S.C. Sec. 1092b to receive information about the borrower's education loan; and
193          (c) provide the borrower information on how the borrower's can access an online
194     repayment calculator.
195          (3) An eligible postsecondary institution does not incur liability for information
196     provided to a borrower in accordance with this section.
197          (4) On or before the October 2017 interim meeting, the State Board of Regents shall
198     report to the Education Interim Committee on:
199          (a) the number of notifications issued under Subsection (2); and
200          (b) the feasibility of an eligible postsecondary institution providing annually to each
201     borrower:
202          (i) an estimate of the total dollar amount of education loans taken out by the borrower;
203     and
204          (ii) for the estimated dollar amount of education loans that the borrower has taken out,
205     an estimate of:
206          (A) the potential total payoff amount, including principal and interest;
207          (B) the monthly repayment amounts, including principal and interest, that the borrower
208     may incur;
209          (C) the number of years used in determining the potential payoff amount; and
210          (D) the percentage of the aggregate borrowing limit the borrower has reached.