Pennsylvanians have said goodbye to Sen. Bob Casey following a contentious campaign against Republican David McCormick, who prevailed in a tight vote last month. While the two men often appeared to be firmly planted on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, there are several causes we hope the newest senator from Pennsylvania will continue to champion, maintaining continuity with his predecessor.
While Casey was never the splashiest senator, he was known on Capitol Hill for working behind the scenes on low-publicity, high-impact legislation to support vulnerable people — especially seniors and people with disabilities. The website GovTrack reports that Casey has passed 96 bills since 2012 — mostly by folding them into larger legislation — while 32 of his sponsored bills have been enacted. These are among the highest rates in the Senate.
Casey embodied a more humble, and increasingly old-fashioned, version of policymaking — a “workhorse” rather than a “show horse,” as Senate colleague Cory Booker, D-N.J., described him.
Possibly the crown jewel of Sen. Casey’s career was introducing 2014’s Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which allowed Americans with disabilities to grow savings for the first time. Before this vital reform, people with disabilities were barred from accruing more than $2,000 in savings without losing access to federal benefits, essentially trapping them in permanent poverty.
The ABLE Act has now helped more than 170,000 people with disabilities to save for their futures by placing funds in ABLE accounts, which are exempt from asset limitations that determine eligibility for certain federal benefits. It wasn’t a bill that made headlines, but rather a limited and targeted reform that fixed a clear problem in federal law, earned the support of the vast majority of Congress and improved many vulnerable people’s lives in the process.
Senator-elect McCormick should follow in Casey’s footsteps, and keep his focus directed towards Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable constituents. Here’s one simple way he can continue Pennsylvania’s leadership on disability issues: support the expansions to ABLE accounts that Casey proposed before leaving office. These bills would increase awareness surrounding ABLE accounts for people with disabilities, allow employers to contribute to them like 401(k) accounts and allow employers to make direct deposits to them. McCormick will not hold the same committee posts as his predecessor (Casey was chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging), but he can lend his voice to the same causes.
The Senate campaign between Casey and McCormick was expensive and sometimes bitter, but the two men have also expressed mutual respect in the aftermath. McCormick can demonstrate that respect by building on the best parts of Casey’s legacy and supporting commonsense legislation that protects vulnerable Americans, especially seniors and those with disabilities.
In this time of polarization and distrust, that would be good for Pennsylvania, and good for America.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via TNS
