FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 16, 2018) – Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball held a press conference on Monday morning at Southern High School in Louisville to announce the launch of the Financial Empowerment Coalition and the Financial Empowerment Database, a first-of-its-kind resource for Kentuckians.
“As a former bankruptcy attorney, I understand the need of greater financial literacy in our state,” Treasurer Ball said. “This is an exciting day in Kentucky, as this coalition and database will help bring greater financial empowerment to Kentuckians. With the passage of HB 132 this session, we now have an opportunity to potentially change the lives of many, many people.”
House Bill 132, sponsored by Representative Jim Duplessis of Elizabethtown, makes financial literacy a graduation requirement for Kentucky public high schools. The legislation allows local principals to determine how to meet that requirement; the Financial Empowerment Database offers resources for that very purpose. Providing this resource for educators was a deliberate part of the coalition’s purpose, but, according to Treasurer Ball, the coalition and the database financially empower more than Kentucky’s K-12 students and teachers.
“We have been developing this resource through conversations with community leaders for quite some time,” Treasurer Ball said. “The coalition has been hard at work, developing solutions to Kentucky’s need for greater financial literacy and financial empowerment among many different communities. I am proud of this database and the work we have started.”
The database is a product of the Treasurer’s work with leaders from numerous fields including educators, financial institutions, advocates for veterans and military personnel, and nonprofits. This online resource has been compiled as part of Treasurer Ball’s Financial Empowerment Coalition, which began meeting informally in 2016, the year she took office. The coalition, which now boasts more than thirty organizations, has provided over 100 links of financial literacy resources. The database’s resources are divided into six target groups, or Cultivation Communities, which are also the focus of the Financial Empowerment Coalition’s work. These six communities include Aging Kentuckians, Emerging Adults, Kentuckians with Disabilities, Low-Income Families, Student Strategies, and Veterans and Military Personnel.
“My Role as State Treasurer is to be a watchdog for Kentucky taxpayer dollars and to be a beacon of good government across the Commonwealth,” Treasurer Ball said. “A practical way of doing that is by building a network of people and organizations committed to improving the financial livelihood of Kentuckians. HB 132 and the Financial Literacy Coalition and Database are the beginning fruits of that labor.”
To learn more about the Financial Empowerment Coalition and Database, visit www.treasury.ky.gov/financialempowerment/.
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