A bill that passed the state Senate last week would implement a new graduation requirement for the state’s high school students — a class on personal financial literacy.

The measure – SB 1243 – passed in the Senate by a 29-18 margin on Tuesday. State Sen. Scott Hutchinson voted in favor of the measure.

“From daily purchases to long-term financial planning, becoming proficient at money management is a critical skill all Pennsylvanians need for success,” Sen. Chris Gebhard, a Lebanon/York/Dauphin county Republican who is the bill’s prime sponsor, said in a legislative memo.”

“This legislation will give the Commonwealth’s children the education they need on pragmatic monetary issues like credit and credit scores, savings and investments, and college, automobile, and home loans.”

The text of the bill includes eight specific areas that will be addressed in the curriculum for this course – the “trust cost of credit,” managing a credit card, borrowing money for large purchases, the mortgage process, credit scoring and reports, paying for postsecondary education, personal insurance and how to prepare and file tax returns.

“The content of the course will be in line with the standards established by the second edition of the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics and the 2013 National Standards for Financial Literacy, as developed by the Council for Economic Education,” Gebhard’s memo explains.

The course will be worth .5 credits and completion can “satisfy the student’s social studies, family and consumer science or mathematics or business education credit requirement for graduation,” according to the bill.

The bill now heads to the state House and it was referred to the House Education Committee on Thursday.