One Woman’s Fight for Disabled to Achieve a Better Life Experience Succeeds

For the last year and a half, we have been following the story of Sara Wolff, a remarkable woman with Downs Syndrome whose future was in jeopardy due to archaic Federal laws that limited a disabled person’s earnings by jeopardizing their Medicaid and Social Security support. She became a one-woman lobbyist to advocate for the passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, a bill that will help individuals with disabilities to save for their futures. In support of that effort, she started a petition on Change.org urging Congress to pass the bill (which garnered more than 269,937 supporters.)

The (then) 31 year-old from Moscow, Pennsylvania (“not Moscow, Russia” she jokes,) works two jobs and is a board member of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). The ABLE Act will now allow people like Sara to save money for their futures through 529-like accounts that won’t impact the medical care and disability benefits they need.

We are delighted to report that after an eight-year uphill battle, the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (H.R. 647/S. 313) became law on December 17, 2014 when it was passed by the Senate with a vote of 76-16. The bill had been approved by the House of Representatives (404-17) on December 3rd. No other bill before the 113th Congress equaled or surpassed the ABLE Act’s bipartisan and bicameral support, with 77 United States Senators and 381 Representatives eventually sponsoring its passage effort. And much of the credit for its passage goes to Sara.

Watch as Sara Discusses Her Hard-fought Victory

We salute Sara and send her our hardiest congratulations. She is living proof that one person CAN make a difference! She is truly an inspiration for us all.