Florida just became the largest state to mandate personal finance education in high school

With more than 9 years of my life devoted to this issue, I couldn’t be more proud to see Governor Ron DeSantis sign this into law. This journey actually began on the legislative side of things in 2012 with the first-ever bill filed by then-Rep. Jimmy Patronis (who is now Florida’s Chief Financial Officer), followed by the leadership of our dear friend, the late Sen. Dorothy Hukill (for whom this new law is named), carried further by former Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, current Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff (who also worked for Sen. Hukill), and so many other House and Senate co-sponsors, which culminated in the passage of this legislation in 2022, thanks to Sen. Travis Hutson, Rep. Demi B. and literally dozens of current and former Florida Legislators. On the advocacy side of things, it was truly a team effort that took many years and many stakeholders along the way to get this over the goal line. Geoffrey Simon, The Florida Council on Economic Education, Robin Konigsburg Warren, Charlie Fitzgerald, III, CFP®, the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Michael Zmistowski, the Florida Bankers Association, the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar, Florida’s credit unions and so many others (I may be forgetting) who committed their time, effort and resources – especially during a time (not that long ago) when VERY few people in positions of influence considered this bill a priority. Congratulations also to my friend and colleague Heather Turnbull for her amazing advocacy this year. Thank you all! This is a great day.

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