Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 670, the Special Needs Trust Fairness and Medicaid Improvement Act, a bipartisan measure that will remove arbitrary legal barriers for individuals with disabilities to independently create their own special needs trust. Special needs trusts are valuable tools that enable assets to be saved on behalf of individuals with disabilities, while protecting their eligibility for means-tested benefits. Under current law, individuals who are or become disabled must have a parent, a guardian, or a court-appointed special needs trust regardless of the individual's capacity to do so on their own. Mr. Speaker, not only does this requirement place an undue burden on individuals who seek a better financial future and want to live with dignity, it runs counter to the precedent set by Congress with the creation of pooled trust accounts in 1993 and the passage of the ABLE Act in 2014. Both provide disabled individuals and their families unencumbered access to mechanisms for savings. My drive to correct this legal inequity stems from my experience as a certified recreational therapist, a hospital manager, a rehabilitation services manager, and a licensed nursing home administrator. In these roles, I worked with many people who set out on challenging journeys towards rehabilitation and future independence.…”