(1) 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 authorize the California ABLE Act Board to additionally accept grants, gifts, appropriations, and other moneys from a philanthropic entity, and would specify that the program can receive legislative appropriations. The bill would authorize the board to delegate specific amounts of grants, gifts, legislative appropriations, or other moneys into the administrative fund or the program fund at its discretion, and would allow the board to use those moneys to encourage eligible individuals to create an ABLE account or maximize account use, including through offering financial incentives in an amount determined by the board. The bill would authorize the board to adopt eligibility criteria for individuals to receive financial incentives, and would require the financial incentives be provided directly to the designated beneficiary or their authorized legal representative. By authorizing new uses of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
(2) Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to include, on a taxpayer's form instructions for filing a return, information about the ability of a taxpayer to directly deposit a portion of their refund into the Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust, as specified.
This bill would additionally require the Franchise Tax Board to include, on a taxpayer's form instructions for filing a return, information about the ability of a taxpayer to directly deposit a portion of their refund into the California ABLE Program Trust.

Statutes affected:
AB 1076: 69996.3 EDC, 19304 RTC, 4877 WIC
02/20/25 - Introduced: 69996.3 EDC, 19304 RTC, 4877 WIC
03/28/25 - Amended Assembly: 69996.3 EDC, 19304 RTC, 4877 WIC