Sen. Ossoff Pushing to Strengthen Support for Georgians with Disabilities
Wednesday, July 17th, 2024
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to improve quality of life for Georgians with disabilities.
This week, Sen. Ossoff launched a push to pass the Ensuring Nationwide Access to a Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act, legislation he co-sponsored alongside Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Bob Casey (D-PA) to extend tax benefits for people with disabilities and help them save for future expenses. The expanded tax benefits are currently scheduled to expire next year.
The bipartisan bill would allow people with disabilities who contribute to Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts to continue qualifying for a nonrefundable saver’s tax credit of up to $1,000.
ABLE accounts are a tax-favored savings program established in 2014 for individuals with disabilities to help save for a series of expenses, including education, housing, transportation, assistive technology and personal support services, health care, and more.
The bill would also increase the amount employed individuals with disabilities can contribute to these accounts and allow the tax-free rollover of funds to these accounts from 529 plans.
“I am working to bring Republicans and Democrats together to help improve the lives of Georgians with disabilities,” Sen. Ossoff said.
According to data from the CDCThis is an external link, around one in three Georgians have a disability and 32 percent of the state’s health care spending is associated with disability expenses.
According to a recent reportThis is an external link by the National Association of State Treasurers, there are 158,421 ABLE accounts open nationwide with an average savings of $9,788.
Sen. Ossoff continues working to support Georgians with disabilities.
In May, Sens. Ossoff and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) introduced the bipartisan Think Differently Database Act, which would direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to build a comprehensive website that provides information and resources available to Georgians with disabilities.
In January, Sen. Ossoff held a press conference in Decatur to brief Georgia veterans and small business owners on his bipartisan Investing in VETS Act, which was signed into law as part of the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act to increase opportunities for service-disabled veteran small business owners.
Click hereThis is an external link to read the Ensuring Nationwide Access to a Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act.