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Panel OKs cleanup to ABLE accounts to align Montana with federal age change
Summary
The House Taxation Committee voted 20-1 to pass House Bill 671, a technical change to the Montana ABLE program to incorporate the Internal Revenue Code and align Montana eligibility with a federal increase in the qualifying age from 26 to 46.
The House Taxation Committee voted 20-1 to advance House Bill 671, a cleanup measure to the Montana Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act that incorporates the Internal Revenue Code into the act's definitions.
Sponsor Representative Melissa Nikola Kackos said the change is technical: it updates state law so Montana will automatically mirror a federal change that raised the age of eligible disabilities for ABLE accounts from 26 to 46 in 2022. “The only thing this bill does is add internal revenue code into the definition sections of the act,” Rep. Nikola Kackos said in opening remarks.
Proponents including Kathleen Magone, a member of the ABLE account oversight committee, told the panel the change expands access to disabled veterans and others by making Montana law consistent with federal rules. “I urge you to...approve this addition of the Internal Revenue Code so that we will be able, in Montana, to allow all of the people who were diagnosed with a disability prior to age 46,” Magone said, noting an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026 for the federal age change.
Brian Olsen of the Department of Revenue answered committee questions on administration and said the bill makes it simpler for the state to adopt federal changes and avoid penalizing account holders when federal rules change. The committee passed the bill in executive action 20-1.
Ending: HB 671 is sent forward by the taxation committee; sponsors and DOR officials described the bill as a technical alignment rather than a substantive program change.
