MAYORAL SUPPORT FOR CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION THROUGH THEIR DOLLARWISE AND SUMMER YOUTH CAMPAIGNS

WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors’ Council on Metro Economies & The New American City formed the DollarWise Campaign to promote the implementation of financial literacy education into every facet of American life; and

WHEREAS, The DollarWise Campaign has created the Summer Youth Campaign to focus exclusively on summer youth jobs programs with the goal of incorporating a financial literacy component into every summer jobs program in the nation by 2015; and

WHEREAS, The nation’s mayors have consistently supported their national financial literacy effort through DollarWise to educate all Americans—specifically youth, seniors, and low- and middle-income individuals—to help ensure a clear understanding of finances; and

WHEREAS, To achieve these ambitious goals, DollarWise has given out Innovation- and Summer Youth grants to 37 cities across the nation and has partnered with many national organizations and government agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury Department, the Consumer Federation of America, and the United States Conference of Mayors’ very own Workforce Development Council, among many; and

WHEREAS, DollarWise is now working with the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the Bureau) to merge the goals of financial literacy education with consumer protection by linking mayors and their cities with the Bureau; and

WHEREAS, As the U.S. economy emerges from the  biggest recession since the Great Depression and unemployment, overall, stands at 8.1%, and youth unemployment at 19%, the mayors of the nation remain committed to giving every citizen the tools to manage their economic future; and

WHEREAS, DollarWise seeks to highlight the best programs around the country so that other mayors can take advantage of the work done by others, the Campaign recognizes the importance of programs such as the EITC-VITA programs, and asset building projects, among many others.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that mayors across our nation are encouraged to fully participate in DollarWise and its programs, such as its grants programs, DollarWise Month, the Summer Youth Campaign, and its partnerships with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Workforce Development Council, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Consumer Federation of America, and many others; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that mayors are encouraged to incorporate a financial literacy education component into their cities’ summer youth employment programs in collaboration with the DollarWise Summer Youth Campaign and to promote their summer youth to register for the DollarWise Summer Youth contest at www.bedollarwise.com/syc; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that mayors, through their DollarWise Campaign, call on the private sector to support summer youth employment programs and the incorporation of financial literacy education into said programs by hiring youth directly or by giving grants to local non-profits to hire youth; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that mayors are encouraged to work with their local school districts to introduce financial literacy and education to all their middle and high school students by availing themselves of the best practices from around the nation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that mayors call on The United States Conference of Mayors (through its DollarWise Campaign) to create a strong partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to create a network between mayors’ offices and the Bureau to establish an “early warning system” to detect financial fraud and to protect citizens in their capacity as consumers of financial products.