Governor signs bill allowing savings accounts for disabilities

On Monday afternoon in Cape Girardeau, Gov. Jay Nixon signed Senate Bill 174, which allows Missouri residents to create tax-exempt savings accounts for family members with disabilities.

When Nixon thanked Todd Mayfield and his adult son, Elijah, for their work in getting the bill passed, Elijah quickly leaned over and gave his dad a kiss on the cheek. The bill was a goal they had been working toward for years.

The Mayfields are ambassadors for the National Down Syndrome Society and have been since Elijah was born. Mayfield said they've been advocating for National Down Syndrome Society issues at the local level for years and said they were blessed with the opportunity to give their testimony in front of state legislators supporting the bill.

"It had been introduced for, I think, four years in a row, and now having it passed this year was a great push nationally for NDSS," Mayfield said. "We've built some relationships and things, so we decided to take advantage of those to get the word out. Elijah is a very influential advocate as well. He spoke very eloquently to Sen. Claire McCaskill in a room full of people. It was a very proud moment. ..."

With the symbolic bill-signing at the Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center in Cape Girardeau, Nixon authorized the Missouri Achieving a Better Life Experience (Missouri ABLE) program to allow people with disabilities or their family members to open tax-exempt savings accounts to help pay their expenses.

The room was full of witnesses supporting the bill, including Southeast's incoming president, Carlos Vargas-Aburto, local state legislators Kathy Swan and Donna Lichtenegger and Betty Hearnes, wife of former Missouri governor Warren Hearnes.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, who has a son on the autism spectrum.

"I thank the governor for his leadership on these issues. We worked together back in 2010 to pass really one of the more pre-eminent autism insurance reform bills in the country that's used as a model in a lot of states even to this day," he said. "... And for a lot of families, myself included as the father of a son with a disability ... I know what it means to wake up in the middle of the night and wonder what's going to happen when you're not there, and we heard some testimony from a lot of families who came up to the capital and talked about that. This is a way for those families and loved ones of individuals with disabilities to better save for those long-term expenses, which can be significant."

The Missouri ABLE program allows anyone to make a tax-deductible contribution of up to $8,000 for an individual or $16,000 for married couples to another person's ABLE account.

"Helping children with disabilities is not a partisan issue; it's a human issue," Nixon said. "It is about the right of all children to realize their God-given potential. The Missouri ABLE program will allow people with disabilities and their families to save money in a special, tax-exempt savings account so that they can provide for their basic necessities and maintain a better quality of life. It's a common sense, compassionate piece of legislation, and I am proud to sign it into law."

Nixon said the state is continuing to expand home- and community-based services for Missourians with developmental disabilities through its "Partnership for Hope" program, which began in 2010.

Nixon called the program the first of its kind in the nation and said Partnership for Hope is helping 2,700 people with developmental disabilities.

"These efforts have brought the waiting list for in-home services for low-income Missourians with developmental disabilities down to zero. For the first time in decades, zero," Nixon said, "but there is always more work to do, and that's what brings us here together today."

smaue@semissourian.com

388-3644

pertinent address:

611 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau