H. R. 1777 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2016’’. 

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

(a) FORMER PRESIDENTS.—The first section of the Act entitled 

‘‘An Act to provide retirement, clerical assistants, and free mailing 

privileges to former Presidents of the United States, and for other 

purposes’’, approved August 25, 1958 (commonly known as the 

‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’) (3 U.S.C. 102 note), is amended 

by striking the matter preceding subsection (e) and inserting the 

following: 

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each former President shall be entitled for 

the remainder of his or her life to receive from the United States— 

‘‘(1) an annuity at the rate of $200,000 per year, subject 

to subsection (c); and 

‘‘(2) a monetary allowance at the rate of $200,000 per 

year, subject to subsections (c) and (d). 

‘‘(b) DURATION; FREQUENCY.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The annuity and allowance under subsection (a) shall each— 

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

an individual becomes a former President; 

‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the former President dies; and 

‘‘(C) be payable by the Secretary of the Treasury on 

a monthly basis. 

‘‘(2) APPOINTIVE OR ELECTIVE POSITIONS.—The annuity and 

allowance under subsection (a) shall not be payable for any 

period during which a former President holds an appointive 

or elective position in or under the Federal Government to 

which is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate. 

‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective December 1 of each 

year, each annuity and allowance under subsection (a) that commenced before that date shall be increased by the same percentage 

by which benefit amounts under title II of the Social Security 

Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) are increased, effective as of that date, 
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as a result of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act 

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

‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONETARY ALLOWANCE.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

this section, the monetary allowance payable under subsection 

(a)(2) to a former President for any 12-month period— 

‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), may not 

exceed the amount by which— 

‘‘(i) the monetary allowance that (but for this subsection) would otherwise be so payable for such 12- 

month period, exceeds (if at all) 

‘‘(ii) the applicable reduction amount for such 12- 

month period; and 

‘‘(B) shall not be less than the amount determined 

under paragraph (4). 

‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the 

term ‘applicable reduction amount’ means, with respect 

to any former President and in connection with any 12- 

month period, the amount by which— 

‘‘(i) the sum of— 

‘‘(I) the adjusted gross income (as defined in 

section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) 

of the former President for the most recent taxable 

year for which a tax return is available; and 

‘‘(II) any interest excluded from the gross 

income of the former President under section 103 

of such Code for such taxable year, exceeds (if 

at all) 

‘‘(ii) $400,000, subject to subparagraph (C). 

‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a joint return, 

subclauses (I) and (II) of subparagraph (A)(i) shall be 

applied by taking into account both the amounts properly 

allocable to the former President and the amounts properly 

allocable to the spouse of the former President. 

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

specified in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be adjusted at the 

same time that, and by the same percentage by which, 

the monetary allowance of the former President is increased 

under subsection (c) (disregarding this subsection). 

‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.— 

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

‘‘(i) the terms ‘return’ and ‘return information’ have 

the meanings given those terms in section 6103(b) 

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

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

the Treasury or the Secretary of the Treasury’s delegate. 

‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A former President may not 

receive a monetary allowance under subsection (a)(2) unless 

the former President discloses to the Secretary, upon the 

request of the Secretary, any return or return information 

of the former President or spouse of the former President 

that the Secretary determines is necessary for purposes 

of calculating the applicable reduction amount under paragraph (2) of this subsection. 
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‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as provided in section 

6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may 

not, with respect to a return or return information disclosed 

to the Secretary under subparagraph (B)— 

‘‘(i) disclose the return or return information to 

any entity or person; or 

‘‘(ii) use the return or return information for any 

purpose other than to calculate the applicable reduction amount under paragraph (2). 

‘‘(4) INCREASED COSTS DUE TO SECURITY NEEDS.—With 

respect to the monetary allowance that would be payable to 

a former President under subsection (a)(2) for any 12-month 

period but for the limitation under paragraph (1), the Administrator of General Services, in coordination with the Director 

of the United States Secret Service, shall determine the amount 

of the allowance that is needed to pay the increased cost of 

doing business that is attributable to the security needs of 

the former President.’’. 

(b) SURVIVING SPOUSES OF FORMER PRESIDENTS.— 

(1) INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF MONETARY ALLOWANCE.—Subsection (e) of the first section of the Former Presidents Act 

of 1958 is amended— 

(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘$20,000 per 

annum,’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000 per year (subject to paragraph (4)),’’; and 

(B) in the second sentence— 

(i) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

(ii) in paragraph (3)— 

(I) by striking ‘‘or the government of the District of Columbia’’; and 

(II) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

and’’; and 

(iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following: 

‘‘(4) shall, after its commencement date, be increased at 

the same time that, and by the same percentage by which, 

annuities of former Presidents are increased under subsection 

(c).’’. 

(2) COVERAGE OF WIDOWER OF A FORMER PRESIDENT.—Subsection (e) of the first section of the Former Presidents Act 

of 1958, as amended by paragraph (1), is amended— 

(A) by striking ‘‘widow’’ each place it appears and 

inserting ‘‘widow or widower’’; and 

(B) by striking ‘‘she’’ and inserting ‘‘she or he’’. 

(c) SUBSECTION HEADINGS.—The first section of the Former 

Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 

(1) in subsection (e), by inserting after the subsection enumerator the following: ‘‘WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS.—’’; 

(2) in subsection (f), by inserting after the subsection enumerator the following: ‘‘DEFINITION.—’’; and 

(3) in subsection (g), by inserting after the subsection 

enumerator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—’’. 

SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this Act shall 

be construed to affect— 
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(1) any provision of law relating to the security or protection 

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

President; or 

(2) funding, under the Former Presidents Act of 1958 or 

any other law, to carry out any provision of law described 

in paragraph (1). 

SEC. 4. TRANSITION RULES. 

(a) FORMER PRESIDENTS.—In the case of any individual who 

is a former President on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

amendment made by section 2(a) shall be applied as if the 

commencement date referred in subsection (b)(1)(A) of the first 

section of the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as amended by section 

2(a), coincided with such date of enactment. 

(b) WIDOWS.—In the case of any individual who is the widow 

of a former President on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

amendments made by section 2(b)(1) shall be applied as if the 

commencement date referred to in subsection (e)(1) of the first 

section of the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as amended by section 

2(b)(1), coincided with such date of enactment. 

SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY. 

For a former President receiving a monetary allowance under 

the Former Presidents Act of 1958 on the day before the date 

of enactment of this Act, the limitation under subsection (d)(1) 

of the first section of that Act, as amended by section 2(a), shall 

apply to the monetary allowance of the former President, except 

to the extent that the application of the limitation would prevent 

the former President from being able to pay the cost of a lease 

or other contract that is in effect on the day before the date 

of enactment of this Act and under which the former President 

makes payments using the monetary allowance, as determined by 

the Administrator of General Services. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.