Senate panel backs bill letting Idaho join multistate ABLE consortium to offer state ABLE accounts

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 26 to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation after State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth told the committee the bill would allow Idaho to join a multistate consortium to operate ABLE accounts for Idahoans with disabilities.

Ellsworth, the State Treasurer, told the committee that Idaho law already recognizes ABLE accounts but the state has not run its own program because the overhead was previously too expensive. She said joining a consortium would spread administrative and investment costs across states and reduce fees for account holders. "By joining a consortium ... it will take it down to 19 to 33% basis points," she said, and she asked the committee for a due‑pass recommendation.

ABLE accounts allow people with disabilities to save for…