Tallahassee, FL - A former aide to late Florida Senator Dorothy Hukill makes her first official House bill about a cause that her old boss was passionate about.
District 26 State Representative Elizabeth Fetterhoff (left) filed a proposal this week dubbed the “Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Act”, also known as House Bill 73.
The DeLand Republican's bill is identical to the one with the same name filed in the Florida Senate recently by District 7 Senator Travis Hutson (R-St. Augustine).
Under the measures filed by Fetterhoff and Hutson, students entering ninth grade beginning in the 2019-2020 school year would be required to earn one-half credit in personal financial literacy and money management.
The courses would include discussion of such issues as balancing checkbooks, completing loan applications and computing interest rates.
Fetterhoff says it's a bill Hukill has tried to get passed since 2014, but she feels "really good" about the chances of getting it to new Governor Ron DeSantis' desk once the Legislature convenes next year.
"She was passionate about issues that dealt with students and kids just in general," Fetterhoff added. "She was a former schoolteacher and I think this was just a matter that she knew students needed to be successful."
Hukill died in October at the age of 72 after a recurrence of cervical cancer.
A memorial service in her honor is planned for next week in the Florida Senate.
Fetterhoff narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Patrick Henry in last month’s election, one of six races in Volusia County which required a machine or manual recount.
