By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
On Monday the Idaho House of Representatives moved forward a bill that allows disabled Idahoans to set up an account to save money additional money for their care.
ABLE accounts — an acronym for Achieving a Better Life Experience – allow people with disabilities who collect Social Security Income to save money for future qualifying needs, such as transportation, housing, or medical expenses.
Under current law, Idahoans are in jeopardy of no longer qualifying for SSI if they have more than $2,000 in their accounts, which discourages them from saving for expenses like car repair, or medical care that isn’t covered by insurance. The money in ABLE accounts doesn’t count against the $2,000. Only people whose disability began before the age of 26 are eligible for ABLE accounts.
Idaho is one of only three states in the country that does not yet have ABLE accounts. There is no cost to the state for setting up the accounts through the national consortium.
“It helps us all, if somebody that has a disabled person in their house, if they have savings to take care of those emergency bills or take care of things, rather than going to the state or different resources that come out of our tax dollars,” said bill sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa.
Should it pass the Senate, the bill would establish an Idaho ABLE Account Advisory Council to advise the Idaho State Treasurer and the executive director of the Idaho State Independent Living Council regarding policies and action that enhance the outreach, marketing, and education of the Idaho ABLE Account Program.
Rep. Kent Marmon, R-Caldwell, voted against the bill.
“I’m not in favor of creating an advisory board that’s gonna cost the taxpayers money,” Marmon said.
Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, noted in his debate that members of that advisory council are unpaid, so that’s not an expense to the state.
“I think it’s a fantastic thing we should have done it a long time ago,” Petzke said.
The bill passed 56-13 and now heads to the Senate.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.