NCD advises senators on ABLE legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 12, 2026

WASHINGTON—Last week the National Council on Disability sent a letter to U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (Kansas) and Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) commending their leadership on legislation pertaining to the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act.

The letters were in response to the senators’ introduction of bills, including the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Tomorrow Act, ABLE MATCH, and the ABLE Direct Deposit Act.

“The principles of these bills align with NCD advisement to Congress regarding the significant financial barriers experienced by people with disabilities and ways to remove those barriers,” wrote NCD Acting Chairman Neil Romano.

NCD has supported ABLE through its history, being assigned in 2018 by the House Appropriations Committee to serve as federal interagency coordinator to increase the crossflow of information across federal, state and nongovernment agencies about the ABLE Act.

NCD held interagency meetings and helped educate federal agencies on ABLE, held public-facing communication campaigns to increase enrollment and hosted ABLE information sessions for the public in conjunction with quarterly Council meetings.

NCD has advised Congress for many years to increase the qualifying age limit, increase employed account holders’ annual contribution caps, and allow 529 educational savings accounts to transition to qualifying people with disabilities without penalty or taxes. NCD also recommended states and the IRS to implement and actively inform people with disabilities and their caregivers on ABLE accounts. Further, NCD has recommended Congress enable higher levels of savings; remove fees and penalties that discourage savings; allow higher employer-match contributions to ABLE accounts, and deferred compensation or donations to retirement plans by employers, and make 529-to-ABLE rollover provisions permanent. 3

“NCD is heartened to see the ongoing bipartisan support of ABLE, which demonstrates an understanding of and commitment to the people with disabilities who the accounts both currently benefit and stand to benefit, whose economic futures can see far more stability and hope because of them,” wrote Romano.

NCD is an independent federal agency charged with advising Congress, the President, and other federal agencies on disability policy to advance the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Read the letter at NCD.gov.

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