California Financial Literacy Ballot Initiative Gathers Sufficient Signatures

A credit card is placed into a card machine for processing payments in La Puente, Calif., on Sept. 11, 2023. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

A ballot measure that would require California schools to teach students about financial literacy is gaining momentum.

The California Personal Finance Education Initiative, which would make all high school students take at least one semester of a personal finance course, needs to gather 546,651 verified petition signatures in order to appear on the November ballot before state voters.

On social media, petition organizers said they gathered nearly 900,000 signatures as of March 13 and submitted them to the state.

High schoolers are currently required to take a personal finance literacy course in 25 states—including Oregon, Utah, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Connecticut—according to nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance, which provides free financial literacy curriculum used in more than 80,000 classrooms around the country.

The California initiative is championed by Bay Area businessman Tim Ranzetta, who also co-founded Next Gen Personal Finance.

“The pace at which Californians signed on to this measure, which would guarantee California high school students a personal finance course prior to graduation, is a testament to the popularity of this commonsense ballot proposition,” Mr. Ranzetta said in a statement.

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California legislators also introduced similar legislation earlier this year that would require schools to teach students about personal finance.

Assembly Bill 1871, introduced Jan. 22 by Assemblyman Juan Alanis (R-Modesto), would require public schools to teach personal financial literacy as a part of its social science curriculum for grades 7 through 12.

It would also require such to be taught in any career technical education courses offered by schools.

Mr. Alanis, in a statement to The Epoch Times, said the bill would equip students with “essential knowledge on saving, budgeting, investing and other key financial concepts.”

Another bill, Assembly Bill 2927, introduced Feb. 15 by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), would make a one-semester course in personal finance a high school graduation requirement.

Both bills are being considered by California Assembly committees, with AB 1871 passing the education committee on March 20.