Mandel is helping special-needs kids
Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel should be applauded for helping people with special needs such as my son, Ben. The brave men, women, children and parents who make up Ohio’s disability community are accustomed to overcoming challenges and obstacles. For us, it’s part of life, and as a parent of a child with special needs, I witness these powerful stories every day.
Too often, the government makes life tougher on families with special-needs children. However, thanks to Mandel, we’ve seen a significant breakthrough that changes the game for individuals with disabilities.
Last year, Mandel launched the first ever STABLE Accounts, which are tax-free savings plans for people with special needs. Before Mandel launched STABLE Accounts, there wasn’t a way for people with disabilities to save and invest without risking losing their needed benefits.
Thanks to Mandel’s STABLE Accounts, the rules have changed and an individual with a disability can save up to $14,000 per year. What’s more, that money can be used for immediate everyday expenses, like paying rent, buying groceries, and getting a haircut. It can also be used to prepare for decades to come, like planning for my son Ben’s future.
Mandel led the way for those with special needs, making Ohio the first state in the nation to launch these accounts. Part of launching a successful new initiative is spreading the message — educating Ohioans so that they know STABLE Accounts exist. Mandel was required, by the Ohio Legislature, to not only launch but also promote the program, and he did just that.
For some reason, and it seems like just plain political bias, The Dispatch has taken exception to Mandel’s important efforts to educate moms and dads of children with disabilities. The Dispatch seems to think Mandel promoted something that helps people with special needs “too much.” As the parent of a child with special needs and a STABLE account holder, I cannot comprehend this.
Perhaps, instead of attacking Mandel and the national success of STABLE Accounts, Dispatch writers should ask a young woman with autism what it feels like to save up money from her job to pay for her first-ever apartment. Or, ask a man with Down syndrome how STABLE Accounts are helping him foster a higher quality of life. Or, maybe, The Dispatch could talk to parents like me, of a young child born with significant physical and developmental delays, about how I can now prepare for Ben’s future after we are gone.
To the contrary, they are just writing pieces that I consider incorrect and demonstrably false.
Mandel took action to help thousands of people in Ohio. It would be great if The Dispatch and other media would take a step back and realize that it is possible for public officials to do good things.
As the parent of a child with a disability, I am thankful for STABLE Accounts and Josh Mandel for making them possible. Mandel should be applauded, not criticized, for the great work he is doing.
Diane Cox Avon Columbus