News and Updates from the Illinois State Treasurer's ABLE Plan
Read news and perspectives from Michael Frerichs on ABLE accounts, disability savings, and expanding financial opportunities.
The Chicago Abilities Expo comes to town June 12-14, 2026, at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL.
Join Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs on Friday, June 12, at 11 am as he cuts the ribbon to open the show. After the ribbon cutting, stop by booth #508 to learn how to open an IL ABLE Account to save and invest to pay for many of the products featured at the Abilities Expo. Grab some IL ABLE swag while you are there.
Millions More Now ABLE-Eligible
New IL ABLE Account Owners, the Chicago Lighthouse, Access Living, and Professor Harold Pollak of the University of Chicago joined Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs to celebrate ABLE age expansion at a March 9 news conference.
Treasurer Frerichs leads panel at Special Olympics Illinois Athlete Leadership Academy.
Treasurer Frerichs moderated a lively panel discussion at the Special Olympics Illinois (SOILL) Athlete Leadership Academy that focused on the benefits of working. Panelists included SOILL athletes who have disabilities and leaders from Amazon and Hyatt who focus on initiatives that support hiring people with disabilities.
Read More “How Inclusive Employers and IL ABLE Accounts Support People with Disabilities”
One teacher’s perspective
Each week, students from across Chicago travel to Urban Autism Solutions’ Growing Solutions Farm (UAS), a 1.2-acre produce farm on Chicago’s West Side, where Chicago public high school transition students with autism and related disabilities gain valuable vocational skills to prepare for future competitive employment.
Read More “Growing Work-Ready Skills at the Growing Solutions Farm”
Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Mother Nature delivered a picture-perfect day for Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs’ visit to Urban Autism Solutions’ Growing Solutions Farm in Chicago earlier this month. During the visit, which was in celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Treasurer Frerichs learned how students with autism build important vocational skills through working on the Farm.
Read More “Treasurer Michael Frerichs visits Urban Autism Solutions”
Spotlight on Reveca Torres: Artist and Community Builder
IL ABLE Account Owner Reveca Torres wears many hats; she is a disability advocate, artist, filmmaker, and the founder and Executive Director of Backbones – a nonprofit dedicated to helping people with spinal cord injuries or disease connect with their communities.
In March, Reveca received an award for Outstanding Achievements in Arts and Humanities from Illinois State Treasurer Frerichs in honor of Women’s History Month. accessABLE News & Updates editors connected with Reveca recently to learn more about her work and how her IL ABLE Account helps to support her efforts.
On December 6, AARP Illinois hosted Treasurer Michael Frerichs for a Telephone Town Hall about IL ABLE Accounts. The Treasurer discussed and answered listeners’ questions about IL ABLE Accounts and how grandparents, parents, siblings, and others can help loved ones with disabilities build a higher quality of life and protect their benefits with an IL ABLE tax-advantaged savings and investment account for people with disabilities.
A Champion of the Achieving a Better Life Experience Program
Last December, the IL ABLE program lost a fierce advocate and dear friend of Treasurer Michael Frerichs. Illinois State Senator Scott Bennett was the original sponsor of the legislation that created the Achieving a Better Life Experience program here in Illinois. Today, the program is named the Senator Scott Bennett Illinois ABLE Program in honor of his legacy.
Read More “Treasurer Frerichs Honors Illinois State Senator Scott Bennett”
Employment training is front and center.
Treasurer Frerichs recently visited Chicago’s Gateway to Learning (GTL) to observe participants with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they build job skills in food preparation, baking, and customer service in GTL’s commercial kitchen and Dorothy’s Can-Do Bakery & Cafe. While there, he heard first-hand from the program’s participants about their work and the impact of GTL’s programs.
Read More “Treasurer Frerichs’s Visit to Gateway to Learning”
Treasurer Frerichs visits the Open Door Rehabilitation Center’s Lemon Shake Up Stand.
A few raindrops didn’t get in the way of Treasurer Frerichs having a great time visiting the Open Door RehabilitationCenter’s (ODRC) Lemon Shakeup stand at the Sandwich Fair on September 8. While there, the Treasurer met with staff, volunteers, and clients of the disability services organization, some of whom own IL ABLE accounts. ODRC has a long history of serving fresh lemonade and pizza at the Sandwich Fair every year.