— North Carolina high school students would have to pass a financial literacy course to graduate under legislation filed Tuesday.

Senate Bill 134 has bipartisan support, and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest got out in front on the idea, joining several legislators in an afternoon press conference on the bill.

The state curriculum already includes some financial literacy instruction, but this bill would create a self-contained course. It would be up the the State Board of Education to figure out what grade to offer the course in and how to make room for it.

Senators introducing the measure suggested the state's "founding principles" course could be absorbed into the regular history curriculum to make room.

Implementing the program would cost about $2.1 million, most of it for teacher training and for $500 stipends teachers would get once they're certified to teach the course.

Forest said he hopes the state's banking industry will pony up half the cost.