Strategies to Foster the Economic Advancement of Citizens with Disabilities
While we’re generally very positive about the Administration’s proposal in the Budget to create a national asset limit floor of $10,000 (best described in the Assets Report 2010,) it is important to note that the proposal does not go as far as the one that was outlined in our work with the Pew Economic Mobility Project.
What’s the key difference? The Administration chose to leave out SSI, Medicaid and Medicare from their proposal. This is a huge proportion of the population that could benefit from asset limits reform, and it can be argued that people eligible for those programs might be able to make the strongest argument in favor of reforming current asset restrictions.
To highlight this, we’re co-sponsoring an event tomorrow with the National Disability Institute and some other organizations, “Innovative Strategies to Foster the Economic Advancement of Citizens with Disabilities.”
The event is from 11:30am until 1pm in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.
Speakers include:
- U.S. Representative James Langevin (RI-2), Chairman, Congressional Disabilities Caucus
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Rourke O’Brien, New America Foundation
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Steve Mendelsohn, Burton Blatt Institute
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Carol Wayman, Corporation for Enterprise Development
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Steve Beck, Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination
Here’s some of important context for the event:
One in five adults living in the U.S. have a disability, and over 22 million families nationwide have a member with a disability. Disability cuts across race, gender, ethnicity, age and geography. Consider the following:
- Only 21% of taxpayers with disabilities have incomes over $40,000.
- As of January 2010, 15.2% of the entire U.S. disability population is unemployed, in contrast to the national average unemployment rate of 10.4%.
- Working-age adults with disabilities are 3 times more likely than their nondisabled peers to live at or below the poverty line.
Unlike most Americans, people with disabilities have no tax-advantaged vehicles to save for future expenses and face barriers to asset accumulation that ties access to public benefits (supplemental security income, health care and housing assistance) to eligibility requirements that prohibit savings.
Topics for the event include:
- Asset Development Proposals in Administration’s FY2011 Budget: Opportunities & Implications for Citizens with Disabilities
- Implications of existing Asset & Income Limits on Citizens with Disabilities
- Key Legislative Initiatives Focused on Promoting Asset Development Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities
- Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2010
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SSI Savers Act of 2010
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Savings for Working Families Act
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Assets for Independence
It should be a really interesting discussion about a critical topic in the lives of many Americans. If you’re interested, you can RSVP here.
More About the Authors
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