Existing federal law, the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (ABLE Act), encourages and assists individuals and families to save private funds for the purpose of supporting eligible individuals with disabilities to maintain their health, independence, and quality of life by excluding from gross income distributions used for qualified disability expenses by a beneficiary of a qualified ABLE program established and maintained by a state, as specified.

Existing law establishes the Qualified ABLE Program for purposes of implementing the federal ABLE Act in this state, and creates the California ABLE Program Trust with the purposes, powers, and duties of the trust to be vested in and exercised by the California ABLE Act Board. Existing law requires the board to segregate the moneys coming into the ABLE program trust into 2 funds: the program fund, which is continuously appropriated, for specified purposes of the act, and the administrative fund, which is available upon appropriation by the Legislature for administration of the act. Existing law requires all moneys paid by designated beneficiaries or eligible individuals in connection with ABLE accounts to be deposited, as received, into the program fund, promptly invested, and accounted for separately.

This bill would require the CalABLE program to make a one-time deposit of at least $250 into each new CalABLE account that meets specified requirements, including that the account was opened on or after a date to be determined by the board, but no earlier than January 1, 2025, and the designated beneficiary of the account is a California resident. The bill would also authorize the board to provide additional financial incentives designated to increase moneys paid by designated beneficiaries or eligible individuals in connection with their CalABLE accounts. The bill would make those provisions subject to an appropriation by the Legislature.