The President has signed the Able Act, and it is now Public Law - TopicsExpress

The President has signed the Able Act, and it is now Public Law No: 113-295. The most recent legislative update is below: Hello- On Friday, Dec 19th, the President of the United States signed H.R. 5771, which includes the ABLE Act. A statement from the White House regarding the Presidents action is here: whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/19/statement-press-secretary-statement-press-secretary-hr-1068-hr-2754-hr-2 It has not yet been assigned a public law number, but will be shortly. If you would like to thank the President for signing the bill, here is the contact information: Phone: 202-456-1111 Address: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Email: whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments Previous legislative updates about the ABLE Act are included below. Thank you. Hello- The Senate passed H.R. 5771 last night, which contained the ABLE Act. The title of the provision is now known as the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014. Mr. Beck, who passed away recently, served as the Vice Chairman of the National Down Syndrome Society. He was a principal national advocate for the ABLE Act. Beside the name change, the text that was passed by the Senate is identical to that passed by the House. The vote in the Senate was 76 senators in favor, 16 opposed, and 8 not voting. It should be pointed out that HR 5771 was a package of many provisions in the tax code, which happened to include the ABLE Act. None of the reasons that senators gave on the Senate floor to oppose the bill concerned the ABLE Act. Even Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who voted against the bill, praised the ABLE Act during the debate. Both Sen. McCaskill and Sen. Blunt voted in favor of the bill. The next step is for Pres. Obama to sign HR 5771 into law. After that the Treasury Department has six months to write the regulations that would put the law into effect. In order for the ABLE Act to be of use in Missouri, there has to be some action by the state legislature to enable people to open an ABLE account. If you would like to thank your U.S. senators, their contact information is below: Sen. Claire McCaskill Phone: (202) 224-6154 Email: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact Sen. Roy Blunt Phone: (202) 224-5721 Email: blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy The most recent legislative updates with more detailed substantive analysis of the ABLE Act are below. Thank you, Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Hello- There is an update/clarification to the status of the ABLE Act. When the House of Representatives passed the ABLE Act on December 3, it simultaneously passed a version of the ABLE Act as part of a larger bill. The larger bill is a tax extender bill (H.R.5771). The ABLE Act is contained in Title IV, Division B. The significant difference between the stand-alone bill that was discussed in the previous legislative update and the new tax extender version is that the new bill allows a beneficiary to work. A beneficiary no longer has to have a disability that precludes them from engaging in substantial gainful activity. The tax extender bill is on the Senate calendar, and could be considered today, but probably will be considered next week. If you would like to call or email your senators to ask them to vote yes on H.R. 5771, their contact information is below: Sen. Claire McCaskill Phone number: (202) 224-6154 Email: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact Sen. Roy Blunt Phone: (202) 224-5721 Email: blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy The link to the status page of the bill is here: https://congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5771 The bill text is here: https://congress.gov/113/bills/hr5771/BILLS-113hr5771pcs.xml (the ABLE Act is in Title IV, Division B). The original legislative update is below. Thank you Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Hello- Last night, the United States House of Representatives passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act) (H.R. 647). The ABLE Act allows someone to set up an account that helps pay another persons disability related expenses. The accounts would be similar to 527 college savings accounts (in Missouri, this is called MOST). The ABLE Act was introduced originally six years ago, and like most bills has gone through changes and revisions as the process has moved forward. Recently, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up (another way of saying made changes) to the bill in July before it was debated on the floor and passed. What follows is a bulleted list of some of the important provisions of the version of the ABLE Act that passed the House. · The beneficiary of the ABLE account must have acquired his or her disability before the age of 26. · The beneficiary must have a disability that would qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), new: **except for those provisions that require that the person not be able to engage in substantial gainful activity (employment)**. o This means for every taxable year that the beneficiary is under the age of 19 they have to meet the definition of disability for SSI for individuals under the age of 18. o For every taxable year the beneficiary is over the age of 19 they have to meet the definition of disability for SSI for individuals over the age of 18. o These definitions of disability include being unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. o A beneficiary does not have to apply for SSI, they only need to have a disability which would qualify if they did apply. o If a beneficiary does apply, and qualifies for, SSI then they automatically qualify for an ABLE account. · There can only be one ABLE account per beneficiary. · There is a maximum contribution limit that is adjusted every year that is tied to the gift tax exemption. I believe this year that amount is $14,000. · The bank or other institution that operates the ABLE account must ensure that no more than the maximum contribution is allowed into the account. If there is an excess contribution to the account, that amount is subject to taxes. · Only the first $100,000 in an ABLE account will be disregarded resources for purposes of SSI. · The money in an ABLE account can only be used for disability related expenses. A partial list of these include: education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, assistive technology and personal support services, health, prevention and wellness, financial management and administrative services, legal fees, expenses for oversight and monitoring, and funeral and burial expenses. The Treasury Department can add to this list through regulations. · All disability related distributions (that is, essentially withdrawals from the ABLE account) will not be counted as income or resources for purposes of any federal assistance program, including SSI, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Medicaid, except any distribution for housing related expenses will be counted for purposes of SSI only. · If the amount in an ABLE account causes the beneficiary to exceed the resource limit of SSI, the beneficiarys SSI will be suspended, not terminated. This means that after the beneficiary spends down his or her account to $100,000 or less, the beneficiary will continue to receive SSI. · If the ABLE Act becomes law nationally, Missouri would have to pass a law allowing ABLE accounts in the state. · An ABLE account could not be opened until at least six months after passage of the Act because the Treasury Department will have to write regulations implementing the law, and the bill gives this timetable. The bill is detailed, and this is only some of the important points. The final vote total was 404 in favor, 17 opposed, and 13 who did not vote. The entire Missouri delegation to the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill. The bill is not yet law, it must pass the Senate and be signed by the President. More information about the bill can be found here: https://congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/647 Here is a link to a list of the members of the House of Representatives from Missouri. Links to their contact information can be found if you click on their name, and then the link to their website: https://congress.gov/members?q=%7B%22member-state%22%3A%22Missouri%22%2C%22chamber%22%3A%22House%22%2C%22congress%22%3A113%7D Note: Rep. JoAnn Emerson resigned and was replaced in a special election by Rep. Jason Smith. Thank you, Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Lackey, AndrewReplyReply AllForwardActions To: [email protected] Sent ItemsMonday, December 22, 2014 10:20 AM This message was sent with High importance. Hello- This past Friday, the President of the United States signed H.R. 5771, which includes the ABLE Act. A statement from the White House regarding the Presidents action is here: whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/19/statement-press-secretary-statement-press-secretary-hr-1068-hr-2754-hr-2 It has not yet been assigned a public law number, but will be shortly. If you would like to thank the President for signing the bill, here is the contact information: Phone: 202-456-1111 Address: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Email: whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments Previous legislative updates about the ABLE Act are included below. Thank you. Hello- The Senate passed H.R. 5771 last night, which contained the ABLE Act. The title of the provision is now known as the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014. Mr. Beck, who passed away recently, served as the Vice Chairman of the National Down Syndrome Society. He was a principal national advocate for the ABLE Act. Beside the name change, the text that was passed by the Senate is identical to that passed by the House. The vote in the Senate was 76 senators in favor, 16 opposed, and 8 not voting. It should be pointed out that HR 5771 was a package of many provisions in the tax code, which happened to include the ABLE Act. None of the reasons that senators gave on the Senate floor to oppose the bill concerned the ABLE Act. Even Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who voted against the bill, praised the ABLE Act during the debate. Both Sen. McCaskill and Sen. Blunt voted in favor of the bill. The next step is for Pres. Obama to sign HR 5771 into law. After that the Treasury Department has six months to write the regulations that would put the law into effect. In order for the ABLE Act to be of use in Missouri, there has to be some action by the state legislature to enable people to open an ABLE account. If you would like to thank your U.S. senators, their contact information is below: Sen. Claire McCaskill Phone: (202) 224-6154 Email: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact Sen. Roy Blunt Phone: (202) 224-5721 Email: blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy The most recent legislative updates with more detailed substantive analysis of the ABLE Act are below. Thank you, Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Hello- There is an update/clarification to the status of the ABLE Act. When the House of Representatives passed the ABLE Act on December 3, it simultaneously passed a version of the ABLE Act as part of a larger bill. The larger bill is a tax extender bill (H.R.5771). The ABLE Act is contained in Title IV, Division B. The significant difference between the stand-alone bill that was discussed in the previous legislative update and the new tax extender version is that the new bill allows a beneficiary to work. A beneficiary no longer has to have a disability that precludes them from engaging in substantial gainful activity. The tax extender bill is on the Senate calendar, and could be considered today, but probably will be considered next week. If you would like to call or email your senators to ask them to vote yes on H.R. 5771, their contact information is below: Sen. Claire McCaskill Phone number: (202) 224-6154 Email: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact Sen. Roy Blunt Phone: (202) 224-5721 Email: blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy The link to the status page of the bill is here: https://congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5771 The bill text is here: https://congress.gov/113/bills/hr5771/BILLS-113hr5771pcs.xml (the ABLE Act is in Title IV, Division B). The original legislative update is below. Thank you Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Hello- Last night, the United States House of Representatives passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act) (H.R. 647). The ABLE Act allows someone to set up an account that helps pay another persons disability related expenses. The accounts would be similar to 527 college savings accounts (in Missouri, this is called MOST). The ABLE Act was introduced originally six years ago, and like most bills has gone through changes and revisions as the process has moved forward. Recently, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up (another way of saying made changes) to the bill in July before it was debated on the floor and passed. What follows is a bulleted list of some of the important provisions of the version of the ABLE Act that passed the House. · The beneficiary of the ABLE account must have acquired his or her disability before the age of 26. · The beneficiary must have a disability that would qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), new: **except for those provisions that require that the person not be able to engage in substantial gainful activity (employment)**. o This means for every taxable year that the beneficiary is under the age of 19 they have to meet the definition of disability for SSI for individuals under the age of 18. o For every taxable year the beneficiary is over the age of 19 they have to meet the definition of disability for SSI for individuals over the age of 18. o These definitions of disability include being unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. o A beneficiary does not have to apply for SSI, they only need to have a disability which would qualify if they did apply. o If a beneficiary does apply, and qualifies for, SSI then they automatically qualify for an ABLE account. · There can only be one ABLE account per beneficiary. · There is a maximum contribution limit that is adjusted every year that is tied to the gift tax exemption. I believe this year that amount is $14,000. · The bank or other institution that operates the ABLE account must ensure that no more than the maximum contribution is allowed into the account. If there is an excess contribution to the account, that amount is subject to taxes. · Only the first $100,000 in an ABLE account will be disregarded resources for purposes of SSI. · The money in an ABLE account can only be used for disability related expenses. A partial list of these include: education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, assistive technology and personal support services, health, prevention and wellness, financial management and administrative services, legal fees, expenses for oversight and monitoring, and funeral and burial expenses. The Treasury Department can add to this list through regulations. · All disability related distributions (that is, essentially withdrawals from the ABLE account) will not be counted as income or resources for purposes of any federal assistance program, including SSI, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Medicaid, except any distribution for housing related expenses will be counted for purposes of SSI only. · If the amount in an ABLE account causes the beneficiary to exceed the resource limit of SSI, the beneficiarys SSI will be suspended, not terminated. This means that after the beneficiary spends down his or her account to $100,000 or less, the beneficiary will continue to receive SSI. · If the ABLE Act becomes law nationally, Missouri would have to pass a law allowing ABLE accounts in the state. · An ABLE account could not be opened until at least six months after passage of the Act because the Treasury Department will have to write regulations implementing the law, and the bill gives this timetable. The bill is detailed, and this is only some of the important points. The final vote total was 404 in favor, 17 opposed, and 13 who did not vote. The entire Missouri delegation to the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill. The bill is not yet law, it must pass the Senate and be signed by the President. More information about the bill can be found here: https://congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/647 Here is a link to a list of the members of the House of Representatives from Missouri. Links to their contact information can be found if you click on their name, and then the link to their website: https://congress.gov/members?q=%7B%22member-state%22%3A%22Missouri%22%2C%22chamber%22%3A%22House%22%2C%22congress%22%3A113%7D Note: Rep. JoAnn Emerson resigned and was replaced in a special election by Rep. Jason Smith. Thank you, Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Lackey, AndrewReplyReply AllForwardActions To: Lackey, Andrew Sent Items, InboxMonday, December 22, 2014 10:18 AM This message was sent with High importance. Hello- This past Friday, the President of the United States signed H.R. 5771, which includes the ABLE Act. A statement from the White House regarding the Presidents action is here: whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/19/statement-press-secretary-statement-press-secretary-hr-1068-hr-2754-hr-2 It has not yet been assigned a public law number, but will be shortly. If you would like to thank the President for signing the bill, here is the contact information: Phone: 202-456-1111 Address: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Email: whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments Previous legislative updates about the ABLE Act are included below. Thank you. Hello- The Senate passed H.R. 5771 last night, which contained the ABLE Act. The title of the provision is now known as the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014. Mr. Beck, who passed away recently, served as the Vice Chairman of the National Down Syndrome Society. He was a principal national advocate for the ABLE Act. Beside the name change, the text that was passed by the Senate is identical to that passed by the House. The vote in the Senate was 76 senators in favor, 16 opposed, and 8 not voting. It should be pointed out that HR 5771 was a package of many provisions in the tax code, which happened to include the ABLE Act. None of the reasons that senators gave on the Senate floor to oppose the bill concerned the ABLE Act. Even Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who voted against the bill, praised the ABLE Act during the debate. Both Sen. McCaskill and Sen. Blunt voted in favor of the bill. The next step is for Pres. Obama to sign HR 5771 into law. After that the Treasury Department has six months to write the regulations that would put the law into effect. In order for the ABLE Act to be of use in Missouri, there has to be some action by the state legislature to enable people to open an ABLE account. If you would like to thank your U.S. senators, their contact information is below: Sen. Claire McCaskill Phone: (202) 224-6154 Email: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact Sen. Roy Blunt Phone: (202) 224-5721 Email: blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy The most recent legislative updates with more detailed substantive analysis of the ABLE Act are below. Thank you, Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Hello- There is an update/clarification to the status of the ABLE Act. When the House of Representatives passed the ABLE Act on December 3, it simultaneously passed a version of the ABLE Act as part of a larger bill. The larger bill is a tax extender bill (H.R.5771). The ABLE Act is contained in Title IV, Division B. The significant difference between the stand-alone bill that was discussed in the previous legislative update and the new tax extender version is that the new bill allows a beneficiary to work. A beneficiary no longer has to have a disability that precludes them from engaging in substantial gainful activity. The tax extender bill is on the Senate calendar, and could be considered today, but probably will be considered next week. If you would like to call or email your senators to ask them to vote yes on H.R. 5771, their contact information is below: Sen. Claire McCaskill Phone number: (202) 224-6154 Email: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact Sen. Roy Blunt Phone: (202) 224-5721 Email: blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form?p=contact-roy The link to the status page of the bill is here: https://congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5771 The bill text is here: https://congress.gov/113/bills/hr5771/BILLS-113hr5771pcs.xml (the ABLE Act is in Title IV, Division B). The original legislative update is below. Thank you Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments. Hello- Last night, the United States House of Representatives passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act) (H.R. 647). The ABLE Act allows someone to set up an account that helps pay another persons disability related expenses. The accounts would be similar to 527 college savings accounts (in Missouri, this is called MOST). The ABLE Act was introduced originally six years ago, and like most bills has gone through changes and revisions as the process has moved forward. Recently, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up (another way of saying made changes) to the bill in July before it was debated on the floor and passed. What follows is a bulleted list of some of the important provisions of the version of the ABLE Act that passed the House. · The beneficiary of the ABLE account must have acquired his or her disability before the age of 26. · The beneficiary must have a disability that would qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), new: **except for those provisions that require that the person not be able to engage in substantial gainful activity (employment)**. o This means for every taxable year that the beneficiary is under the age of 19 they have to meet the definition of disability for SSI for individuals under the age of 18. o For every taxable year the beneficiary is over the age of 19 they have to meet the definition of disability for SSI for individuals over the age of 18. o These definitions of disability include being unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. o A beneficiary does not have to apply for SSI, they only need to have a disability which would qualify if they did apply. o If a beneficiary does apply, and qualifies for, SSI then they automatically qualify for an ABLE account. · There can only be one ABLE account per beneficiary. · There is a maximum contribution limit that is adjusted every year that is tied to the gift tax exemption. I believe this year that amount is $14,000. · The bank or other institution that operates the ABLE account must ensure that no more than the maximum contribution is allowed into the account. If there is an excess contribution to the account, that amount is subject to taxes. · Only the first $100,000 in an ABLE account will be disregarded resources for purposes of SSI. · The money in an ABLE account can only be used for disability related expenses. A partial list of these include: education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, assistive technology and personal support services, health, prevention and wellness, financial management and administrative services, legal fees, expenses for oversight and monitoring, and funeral and burial expenses. The Treasury Department can add to this list through regulations. · All disability related distributions (that is, essentially withdrawals from the ABLE account) will not be counted as income or resources for purposes of any federal assistance program, including SSI, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Medicaid, except any distribution for housing related expenses will be counted for purposes of SSI only. · If the amount in an ABLE account causes the beneficiary to exceed the resource limit of SSI, the beneficiarys SSI will be suspended, not terminated. This means that after the beneficiary spends down his or her account to $100,000 or less, the beneficiary will continue to receive SSI. · If the ABLE Act becomes law nationally, Missouri would have to pass a law allowing ABLE accounts in the state. · An ABLE account could not be opened until at least six months after passage of the Act because the Treasury Department will have to write regulations implementing the law, and the bill gives this timetable. The bill is detailed, and this is only some of the important points. The final vote total was 404 in favor, 17 opposed, and 13 who did not vote. The entire Missouri delegation to the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill. The bill is not yet law, it must pass the Senate and be signed by the President. More information about the bill can be found here: https://congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/647 Here is a link to a list of the members of the House of Representatives from Missouri. Links to their contact information can be found if you click on their name, and then the link to their website: https://congress.gov/members?q=%7B%22member-state%22%3A%22Missouri%22%2C%22chamber%22%3A%22House%22%2C%22congress%22%3A113%7D Note: Rep. JoAnn Emerson resigned and was replaced in a special election by Rep. Jason Smith. Thank you, Andrew Lackey, Esq. Public Policy Analyst Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council P.O Box 687, 1706 E. Elm Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 Phone: (314)-331-7028/(800)-500-7878 Fax: (573)-526-2755 E-mail: [email protected] moddcouncil.org facebook/MissouriDevelopmentalDisabilityCouncil youtube/MissouriDDCouncil twitter/MODDCouncil The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council mission is To assist individuals, families, and the community to include all people with developmental disabilities in every aspect of life. Let People with Disabilities Live Real Lives! CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. The designated- recipients are prohibited from redisclosing this information to any other party without authorization and are required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited by federal or state law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone at 314-331-7028, and destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments.

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