What's new with SEED?

Legislation.  After unanimously passing out of the Illinois House in April, HB 1662 passed the Senate unanimously on May 28 and now goes to the governor for his signature.  This legislation will create a Children's Savings Account Task Force to review and make recommendations about children's savings account program options, with the goal of increasing the levels of financial literacy and savings in the state and increasing the number of children in Illinois who own assets and who attend post-secondary education or training, purchase a home, or open a small business.  The Illinois Asset Building Group—co-chaired by the Heartland Alliance and the Shriver Center, a SEED state policy and community partner—was instrumental in writing the bill and courting the bill’s champions and lead sponsors, Rep. Marlow Colvin (D-Chicago) and Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago).  The Offices of the Governor and the State Treasurer have also been supporters of children's savings accounts and will play key roles in the Task Force.  Click here to read HB 1662.

Lawmakers in Texas passed legislation establishing a matching program for the state’s revived pre-paid tuition program.  Both chambers of the Texas legislature passed bills to revive and improve the state’s pre-paid tuition plan, to be called the Texas Tomorrow Fund II.  The bills include language for the development of the Texas Save and Match program, which would allow for matching funds for contributions by families with incomes below the state median household income.  The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) played an instrumental role in writing the legislation and generating support for it among legislators.  Click here to read HB 3900 (see relevant section on pp. 4-5), which is expected to be signed by the governor. 

CPPP can also take credit for key language in a bill that requires the development of a master plan for higher education in Texas (SB 1234).  The bill includes language requiring the master plan to take into account “the effectiveness of existing family asset-building programs related to higher education, including individual college savings plans, prepaid tuition plans, and universal children ’s savings accounts; and the degree to which such programs contribute to each of the following in relation to study at a public or private institution of higher education: (i) increased student achievement; (ii) readiness for higher education; (iii) enrollment rates; (iv) dropout prevention; (v) overall student success and well-being; and (vi) reliance on student loans.” The bill passed both chamber of the legislature and awaits the governor’s signature.   Click here to read SB 1234.  Click here to read an analysis of the bill. 

Legislation to establish a time-limited children’s savings account task force in Hawaii did not pass before the close of the 2007 legislative session.  The Senate passed their version of the resolution, and it passed two committees on the House side, but the bill never made it to the House floor for a vote.  Advocates in Hawaii remain optimistic that a CSA task force will continue to be among the priorities of the legislature’s asset policy agenda going forward, as there is still interest from Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser (D-Kaua'i, Ni'ihau) and Senator Suzie Chun-Oakland (D-Nuuanu), chair of the Human Services and Public Housing Committee.  The task force bill is expected to be reintroduced in the next legislative session.

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Events.  Advocates from 18 states participated in a conference call training on reforming state asset limits, hosted by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law on May 23. The training, entitled "It's About Getting Ahead: Strategies and Options for Eliminating State Asset Limits," was based on a March/April 2007 Clearinghouse Review article by Dory Rand, Supervising Attorney for Community Investment at the Shriver Center.  Panelists included Rand, who gave a brief overview of the need for asset limit reform and key approaches; Paul Fraunholtz and Beth Kowalczyk of the Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services, who shared information on how Ohio became the first state to eliminate TANF asset limits in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program;  Stacy Dean of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who provided information on categorical eligibility rules, alignment with TANF rules, and other methods to eliminate asset limits, exempt assets, and raise asset limits in the Food Stamp Program; and Rourke O'Brien of the New America Foundation, who advised that a new federal asset bill is in the works that would raise the asset limit in the Food Stamp Program, index it to inflation, and exempt all retirement and education savings accounts and vehicles.  A transcript of the conference call is available on the Shriver website at http://www.povertylaw.org/advocacy/community-investment under the "Two Cents Plus Interest" section.

Paying for College
New York Times
Editorial
May 22, 2007

The Next Social Contract
Washingtonpost.com
By Reid Cramer and Ray Boshara
May 17, 2007

Student-owned credit union to teach kids about money
Baton Rouge Advocate
By Ellyn Couvillion
May 6, 2007

KIDS Accounts benefit the rich, not children
The Daily Aztec (San Diego State University)
By Veronica Rollin
May 3, 2007

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