Peoria Standard

State Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) wants Illinois residents with disabilities to know resources are available to help.

“Students with disabilities face seemingly insurmountable challenges every day,” Koehler posted  on Facebook. “For many of these students and their families, the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to their worries and helping families’ access much-needed assistance should be a priority.”

Koehler has filed Senate Bill 3474 to assure the job gets done. The measure that has already passed out of the Senate State Government Committee requires school districts to provide informational materials about the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account program directly to the parent or guardian of students with disabilities.

The ABLE program also “aims to assist individuals and families in saving private funds for the purpose of supporting individuals with disabilities to maintain health, independence and quality of life,” Koehler said on his website. 

The plan likewise provides secure funding for disability-related expenses, with the goal of helping disabilities sufferers supplement insurance benefits and income.

“By ensuring that Illinoisans with disabilities and their families know about the ABLE account program, we can create solutions instead of exacerbating problems,” Koehler said of the legislation now slated to go before the full Senate for further consideration.

ABLE accounts were created along with the passage of the Stephen Beck Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014. Considered one of the most significant pieces of legislation for the disability community since the Americans with Disabilities Act, the measure garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House.

The individual with the disability is the ABLE account owner. The account owner, family, friends, an employer or the account owner’s Special Needs Trust (SNT) may contribute funds into the account. ABLE account owners – both those who receive and those who do not receive public benefits – may save for qualified disability expenses related to transportation, health care, housing, education, retirement and more.

ABLE accounts allow eligible individuals to save and invest money, largely without affecting eligibility for public benefits; Medicaid eligibility is not affected by ABLE savings in any amount up to the individual state 529 savings limit.