Klobuchar & Schmitt Introduce Bipartisan ABLE Employment Flexibility Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) reintroduced the ABLE Employment Flexibility Act, their bipartisan legislation which would allow employers to contribute to an employee's Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account - a tax-free savings account for people with disabilities and their families - in lieu of a traditional 401(k) or other defined contribution retirement plan. In the Senate, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Jerry Moran (R-KS).

By permitting employer contributions to ABLE accounts, the bill helps workers with disabilities to save for their long-term needs and build financial security through employment while preserving flexibility for employers.

"This bipartisan legislation will help people with disabilities and their families build a better life, save for the future, and invest without losing access to their federal benefits, like Medicaid, that they count on," said Klobuchar.

"Individuals with disabilities who work deserve the same access to employment benefits as their peers. This bipartisan legislation provides greater flexibility to employers and allows workers with disabilities to build secure financial futures without jeopardizing the federal benefits they need to live fulfilling and productive lives," said Schmitt.

"Since our passage of the ABLE Act more than a decade ago, it has empowered tens of thousands of people with disabilities to bolster their financial stability and support critical needs. Allowing employers to contribute to workers' ABLE accounts offers these Americans another way to grow their savings and strengthen their economic independence - ensuring success in the workplace and security in retirement like everyone else," said Van Hollen.

"The savings plan we created through the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act in 2014 has expanded savings options for Americans with disabilities by removing burdensome barriers within federal entitlement programs," said Moran. "By enabling employers to make retirement contributions directly into employees' ABLE accounts, our legislation will build on the success of the ABLE program and help empower individuals with disabilities to more easily plan and save for their future."

Klobuchar has long advocated for individuals with disabilities.

In 2014, Klobuchar fought to pass the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act to establish ABLE accounts, which allow people with disabilities and their families to save and invest through tax-free savings accounts without losing eligibility for federal programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Since, Klobuchar has supported legislation to improve upon the ABLE Act, including the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, the ABLE Financial Planning Act, the ENABLE Act, the ABLE Awareness Act, and the ABLE MATCH Act.

In 2020, the bipartisan Klobuchar-backed ALS Disability Insurance Access Act was introduced to eliminate the five-month waiting period before Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.

In 2016, she fought to pass the Steve Gleason Act which amends Medicare to make permanent the elimination of a specified payment cap under the Medicare program with respect to speech generating devices. People with ALS quickly lose their ability to speak and rely entirely upon speech generating devices to live and communicate.

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