II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1496 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Received 

AN ACT 

To amend the Act of August 25, 1958, commonly known 

as the ‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’, with respect 

to the monetary allowance payable to a former President, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 1496 RDS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance 

3 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to pro6 vide retirement, clerical assistants, and free mailing privi7 leges to former Presidents of the United States, and for 

8 other purposes’’, approved August 25, 1958 (commonly 

9 known as the ‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’) (3 U.S.C. 

10 102 note), is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘That (a) each’’ and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘SECTION 1. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE BE14 FORE PRESIDENTIAL ALLOWANCE MOD15 ERNIZATION ACT OF 2019. 

16 ‘‘(a) Each’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating subsection (g) as section 3 

18 and adjusting the margin accordingly; and 

19 (3) by inserting after section 1, as so des20 ignated, the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 2. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE AFTER 

22 PRESIDENTIAL ALLOWANCE MODERNIZA23 TION ACT OF 2019. 

24 ‘‘(a) ANNUITIES AND ALLOWANCES.— 

25 ‘‘(1) ANNUITY.—Each modern former President 

26 shall be entitled for the remainder of his or her life 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 1496 RDS

1 to receive from the United States an annuity at the 

2 rate of $200,000 per year, subject to subsections 

3 (b)(2) and (c), to be paid by the Secretary of the 

4 Treasury. 

5 ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE.—The Administrator of Gen6 eral Services is authorized to provide each modern 

7 former President a monetary allowance at the rate 

8 of $200,000 per year, subject to the availability of 

9 appropriations and subsections (b)(2), (c), and (d). 

10 ‘‘(b) DURATION; FREQUENCY.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The annuity and allowance 

12 under subsection (a) shall each— 

13 ‘‘(A) commence on the day after the date 

14 on which an individual becomes a modern 

15 former President; 

16 ‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the 

17 modern former President dies; and 

18 ‘‘(C) be payable on a monthly basis. 

19 ‘‘(2) APPOINTIVE OR ELECTIVE POSITIONS.— 

20 The annuity and allowance under subsection (a) 

21 shall not be payable for any period during which a 

22 modern former President holds an appointive or 

23 elective position in or under the Federal Government 

24 to which is attached a rate of pay other than a 

25 nominal rate. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 1496 RDS

1 ‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective Decem2 ber 1 of each year, each annuity and allowance under sub3 section (a) that commenced before that date shall be in4 creased by the same percentage by which benefit amounts 

5 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 

6 et seq.) are increased, effective as of that date, as a result 

7 of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 415(i)). 

9 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONETARY ALLOWANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of this section, the monetary allowance 

12 payable under subsection (a)(2) to a modern former 

13 President for any 12-month period— 

14 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

15 (B), may not exceed the amount by which— 

16 ‘‘(i) the monetary allowance that (but 

17 for this subsection) would otherwise be so 

18 payable for such 12-month period, exceeds 

19 (if at all) 

20 ‘‘(ii) the applicable reduction amount 

21 for such 12-month period; and 

22 ‘‘(B) shall not be less than the amount de23 termined under paragraph (4). 

24 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 1496 RDS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para2 graph (1), the term ‘applicable reduction 

3 amount’ means, with respect to any modern 

4 former President and in connection with any 

5 12-month period, the amount by which— 

6 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 

7 ‘‘(I) the adjusted gross income 

8 (as defined in section 62 of the Inter9 nal Revenue Code of 1986) of the 

10 modern former President for the most 

11 recent taxable year for which a tax re12 turn is available; and 

13 ‘‘(II) any interest excluded from 

14 the gross income of the modern 

15 former President under section 103 of 

16 such Code for such taxable year, ex17 ceeds (if at all) 

18 ‘‘(ii) $400,000, subject to subpara19 graph (C). 

20 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 

21 joint return, subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara22 graph (A)(i) shall be applied by taking into ac23 count both the amounts properly allocable to 

24 the modern former President and the amounts 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 1496 RDS

1 properly allocable to the spouse of the modern 

2 former President. 

3 ‘‘(C) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—The 

4 dollar amount specified in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

5 shall be adjusted at the same time that, and by 

6 the same percentage by which, the monetary al7 lowance of the modern former President is in8 creased under subsection (c) (disregarding this 

9 subsection). 

10 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

12 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘return’ and ‘return in13 formation’ have the meanings given those 

14 terms in section 6103(b) of the Internal 

15 Revenue Code of 1986; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Secretary’ means the 

17 Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary 

18 of the Treasury’s delegate. 

19 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A modern former 

20 President may not receive a monetary allowance 

21 under subsection (a)(2) unless the modern 

22 former President discloses to the Secretary, 

23 upon the request of the Secretary, any return 

24 or return information of the modern former 

25 President or spouse of the modern former 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 1496 RDS

1 President that the Secretary determines is nec2 essary for purposes of calculating the applicable 

3 reduction amount under paragraph (2) of this 

4 subsection. 

5 ‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as pro6 vided in section 6103 of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 and notwithstanding any other 

8 provision of law, the Secretary may not, with 

9 respect to a return or return information dis10 closed to the Secretary under subparagraph 

11 (B)— 

12 ‘‘(i) disclose the return or return in13 formation to any entity or person; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) use the return or return informa15 tion for any purpose other than to cal16 culate the applicable reduction amount 

17 under paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(4) INCREASED COSTS DUE TO SECURITY

19 NEEDS.—With respect to the monetary allowance 

20 that would be payable to a modern former President 

21 under subsection (a)(2) for any 12-month period but 

22 for the limitation under paragraph (1)(A) of this 

23 subsection, the Administrator of General Services, in 

24 coordination with the Director of the United States 

25 Secret Service, shall determine the amount of the alVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1496.RDS H1496

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 1496 RDS

1 lowance that is needed to pay the increased cost of 

2 doing business that is attributable to the security 

3 needs of the modern former President. 

4 ‘‘(e) WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS.—The widow or wid5 ower of each modern former President shall be entitled 

6 to receive from the United States a monetary allowance 

7 at a rate of $100,000 per year (subject to paragraph (4)), 

8 payable monthly by the Secretary of the Treasury, if such 

9 widow or widower shall waive the right to each other annu10 ity or pension to which she or he is entitled under any 

11 other Act of Congress. The monetary allowance of such 

12 widow or widower— 

13 ‘‘(1) commences on the day after the modern 

14 former President dies; 

15 ‘‘(2) terminates on the last day of the month 

16 before such widow or widower dies; 

17 ‘‘(3) is not payable for any period during which 

18 such widow or widower holds an appointive or elec19 tive office or position in or under the Federal Gov20 ernment to which is attached a rate of pay other 

21 than a nominal rate; and 

22 ‘‘(4) shall, after its commencement date, be in23 creased at the same time that, and by the same per24 centage by which, annuities of modern former Presi25 dents are increased under subsection (c). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

HR 1496 RDS

1 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘modern 

2 former President’ means a person— 

3 ‘‘(1) who shall have held the office of President 

4 of the United States of America; 

5 ‘‘(2) whose service in such office shall have ter6 minated— 

7 ‘‘(A) other than by removal pursuant to 

8 section 4 of article II of the Constitution of the 

9 United States of America; and 

10 ‘‘(B) after the date of enactment of the 

11 Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 

12 2019; and 

13 ‘‘(3) who does not then currently hold such of14 fice.’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 The Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 

17 (1) in section 1(f)(2), as designated by this sec18 tion— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘terminated other than’’ 

20 and inserting the following: ‘‘terminated— 

21 ‘‘(A) other than’’; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) on or before the date of enactment of 

24 the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 

25 2019; and’’; and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

HR 1496 RDS

1 (2) in section 3, as redesignated by this sec2 tion— 

3 (A) by inserting after the section enu4 merator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF

5 APPROPRIATIONS.’’; and 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘or modern former Presi7 dent’’ after ‘‘former President’’ each place that 

8 term appears. 

9 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

10 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 

11 Act shall be construed to affect— 

12 (1) any provision of law relating to the security 

13 or protection of a former President or modern 

14 former President, or a member of the family of a 

15 former President or modern former President; or 

16 (2) funding, under the Former Presidents Act 

17 of 1958 or any other law, to carry out any provision 

18 of law described in paragraph (1). 

19 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

20 Section 2 of the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as 

21 added by section 2(a)(3) of this Act, shall not apply to— 

22 (1) any individual who is a former President on 

23 the date of enactment of this Act; or 

24 (2) the widow or widower of an individual de25 scribed in paragraph (1). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
11 

HR 1496 RDS

1 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

2 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

3 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

4 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

5 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

6 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

7 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro8 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

9 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 16, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS