Rep. Meredith Files High School Financial Literacy Bill

Rep. Michael Meredith at a 2024 veterans function in Brownsville.

Edmonson Voice Report:
Frankfort, Kentucky (February 12, 2025) – Last week, Representative Michael Meredith of Oakland filed a bill that would require all high school students to pass a financial literacy course in order to graduate.
 
“With this measure, we are taking the next step in ensuring that the students of our commonwealth graduate with the ‘real world’ knowledge necessary for their future,” said Meredith. “By providing financial guidance, we are not only teaching students how to make positive decisions, but also making them aware of the long-term repercussions and dangers of poor decisions.”
 
House Bill 342 builds off previous measures passed in 2019 and 2020 to require financial literacy education in high schools. Under this bill, all students who enter high school after the summer of 2025 will be required to take a one credit course in financial literacy during either their eleventh or twelfth grade year. The course must at minimum cover the topics of budgeting; saving and investing; credit and debit; insurance and risk management; and taxes.
 
“Many of these students will be faced with potentially life altering financial decisions right after graduation,” Meredith added. “Preparing them for those decisions as soon as possible helps increase their chances for a stable future, and in turn a stable future for the commonwealth.”