Senate Passes Van Hollen, Schmitt, Casey, Boozman ENABLE Act, to Support Individuals with Disabilities

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and John Boozman’s (R-Ark.) legislation, the Ensuring Nationwide Access to Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act, recently passed the United States Senate. This legislation extends key provisions of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) program, a critical means for individuals with disabilities and their families to save money. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, Senator Van Hollen helped introduce and pass the ABLE Act, which allowed people with disabilities and their families to save and invest through tax-free savings accounts without losing eligibility for federal programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The program was expanded in 2017 with three provisions that make the program accessible to more people with disabilities and make it easier for those in the program to save. The bipartisan ENABLE Act ensures that these provisions do not expire in 2025. It will now proceed to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

“Since our creation of the ABLE program a decade ago, it has empowered tens of thousands of people with disabilities to bolster their financial stability and support critical needs. We’re fighting to make these key ABLE provisions permanent so those Americans and many more can count on this vital program for years to come – giving them the tools to grow their savings and strengthen their economic independence,” said Senator Van Hollen.

People with disabilities are more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to people without disabilities, yet households including a person with a work-limiting disability need, on average, 28 percent more income to obtain the same standard of living as people without disabilities. For a long time, this intersection of disability and poverty was made worse by asset limitations for federal assistance programs that many people with disabilities rely on. Senator Van Hollen, while serving in the House, created the ABLE program to fix this problem for more than 162,000 people with disabilities across the United States, who have saved more than $1.74 billion since the program was created.

Three key ABLE provisions are set to expire in 2025:

• ABLE to Work: A person with a disability who is employed can contribute an additional amount to his or her ABLE account. This additional contribution cannot be greater than either:

• the prior year’s federal poverty level for a one-person household ($15,060 in 2024), or
• the beneficiary’s yearly compensation.

• ABLE Saver’s Credit: A person with a disability who makes qualified contributions to their ABLE account can qualify for a nonrefundable saver’s credit of up to $1,000.

• 529 to ABLE rollover: A person with a disability may rollover from a 529 education savings account to an ABLE account funds that are less than or equal to the annual ABLE contribution limit are not subject to income taxation.

The ENABLE Act would make all three provisions permanent, enshrining expanded access to the ABLE program. The bipartisan bill was cosponsored by Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.).