Stephen Wira ABLE Act
- Bill Number
- H.R. 9384
- Origin Chamber
- House
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Social Welfare
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-06-22: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- Last Updated
- 2026-07-06T18:55:28Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose This legislation amends the Stephen Beck, Jr., ABLE Act of 2014 to raise the limit on funds held in ABLE accounts that are disregarded when determining eligibility for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides monthly payments to low-income individuals who are aged, blind, or disabled. The goal is to allow greater savings without affecting benefit eligibility.
Key Provisions
- Short title: The bill is named the "Stephen Wira ABLE Act."
- Adjusted exclusion limit: The current $100,000 cap on ABLE account balances excluded from SSI resource calculations is replaced with:
- $150,000 for calendar year 2026.
- For later years, the higher of the prior year’s amount or the prior year’s amount increased by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over the preceding 12 months ending June 30.
- Administrative process: The Commissioner of Social Security must calculate the annual adjustment and publish it in the Federal Register by November 1 before each calendar year begins.
- The bill makes no other changes to ABLE account rules or SSI program operations.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Raises the fixed exclusion threshold from $100,000 to $150,000 starting in 2026.
- Replaces the static limit with an automatic inflation adjustment mechanism tied to the Consumer Price Index.
- Adds a new requirement for the Social Security Administration to issue annual Federal Register notices of the updated amount.
Potential Impacts
- On citizens: Individuals with disabilities who use ABLE accounts may retain higher balances without losing or reducing SSI payments, supporting greater financial independence and long-term savings.
- On government agencies: The Social Security Administration gains a recurring duty to compute and publicly announce the inflation-adjusted limit each year.
- On international relations: No effects are indicated in the legislation.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- People with disabilities and their families who maintain ABLE accounts.
- The Social Security Administration, which administers SSI and will handle the annual adjustments.
- State agencies that coordinate with federal SSI determinations.
- Congress, as the body that originally created the ABLE program and is now modifying its interaction with SSI.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- The bill operates entirely within existing federal authority over benefit programs and contains no provisions that alter constitutional rights or create new legal disputes.
- It introduces a technical inflation-indexing process that reduces the need for future legislation to update the dollar amount.
- No international, criminal, or regulatory implications are present in the text.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Recent Actions
- 2026-06-22: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- 2026-06-22: Introduced in House
- 2026-06-22: Introduced in House
Bill Versions
- Stephen Wira ABLE Act — issued 2026-06-22 — PDF (3 pages)