Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Childrens Savings Accounts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances Many Kids Act pilot to create childrens savings accounts in target counties
Summary
Senate File 3120, as amended, would create a pilot Childrens Savings Account program in several counties and for Medicaid-eligible births in urban counties; the committee adopted an A3 amendment and referred the bill to Health & Human Services.
Senators advanced the Many Kids Act (SF 3120) after adopting an author's amendment that narrows initial implementation to a pilot in Stearns, Sherburne, Rice and Benton counties and targets Medicaid-eligible births in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
Aaron Martin, director of policy for the Many Kids coalition, described the bill as the product of multi-year design work and community pilots. The proposal uses an automatic, opt-out account design with a small seed deposit (examples cited: $50 general seed; $100 for Medicaid-eligible births in some drafts) and $300,000 in pilot grants for local outreach and planning.
"A child with just one dollar to $499 saved is three times more likely to enroll in college and four times more likely to graduate," Martin said, summarizing national research on CSAs. Local ambassadors testified about how a modest seeded account changed families' expectations and planning.
The committee adopted the A3 amendment and recommended the amended SF 3120 to pass; it was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee as the bill moves through the legislative process.
