HR 1496 RDS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance 
Modernization Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to pro-
vide retirement, clerical assistants, and free mailing privi-
leges 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— 
(1) by striking ‘‘That (a) each’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘SECTION 1. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE BE-
FORE 
PRESIDENTIAL 
ALLOWANCE 
MOD-
ERNIZATION ACT OF 2019. 
‘‘(a) Each’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (g) as section 3 
and adjusting the margin accordingly; and 
(3) by inserting after section 1, as so des-
ignated, the following: 
‘‘SEC. 2. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE AFTER 
PRESIDENTIAL 
ALLOWANCE 
MODERNIZA-
TION ACT OF 2019. 
‘‘(a) ANNUITIES AND ALLOWANCES.— 
‘‘(1) ANNUITY.—Each modern former President 
shall be entitled for the remainder of his or her life 
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to receive from the United States an annuity at the 
rate of $200,000 per year, subject to subsections 
(b)(2) and (c), to be paid by the Secretary of the 
Treasury. 
‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE.—The Administrator of Gen-
eral Services is authorized to provide each modern 
former President a monetary allowance at the rate 
of $200,000 per year, subject to the availability of 
appropriations and subsections (b)(2), (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 modern 
former President; 
‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the 
modern former President dies; and 
‘‘(C) be payable 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 
modern 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. 
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‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective Decem-
ber 1 of each year, each annuity and allowance under sub-
section (a) that commenced before that date shall be in-
creased 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, 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 modern 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 de-
termined under paragraph (4). 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para-
graph (1), the term ‘applicable reduction 
amount’ means, with respect to any modern 
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 Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986) of the 
modern former President for the most 
recent taxable year for which a tax re-
turn is available; and 
‘‘(II) any interest excluded from 
the gross income of the modern 
former President under section 103 of 
such Code for such taxable year, ex-
ceeds (if at all) 
‘‘(ii) $400,000, subject to subpara-
graph (C). 
‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 
joint return, subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara-
graph (A)(i) shall be applied by taking into ac-
count both the amounts properly allocable to 
the modern former President and the amounts 
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properly allocable to the spouse of the modern 
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 al-
lowance of the modern former President is in-
creased under subsection (c) (disregarding this 
subsection). 
‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the terms ‘return’ and ‘return in-
formation’ 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 modern former 
President may not receive a monetary allowance 
under subsection (a)(2) unless the modern 
former President discloses to the Secretary, 
upon the request of the Secretary, any return 
or return information of the modern former 
President or spouse of the modern former 
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President that the Secretary determines is nec-
essary for purposes of calculating the applicable 
reduction amount under paragraph (2) of this 
subsection. 
‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as pro-
vided 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 dis-
closed to the Secretary under subparagraph 
(B)— 
‘‘(i) disclose the return or return in-
formation to any entity or person; or 
‘‘(ii) use the return or return informa-
tion for any purpose other than to cal-
culate 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 modern former President 
under subsection (a)(2) for any 12-month period but 
for the limitation under paragraph (1)(A) of this 
subsection, the Administrator of General Services, in 
coordination with the Director of the United States 
Secret Service, shall determine the amount of the al-
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lowance that is needed to pay the increased cost of 
doing business that is attributable to the security 
needs of the modern former President. 
‘‘(e) WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS.—The widow or wid-
ower of each modern former President shall be entitled 
to receive from the United States a monetary allowance 
at a rate of $100,000 per year (subject to paragraph (4)), 
payable monthly by the Secretary of the Treasury, if such 
widow or widower shall waive the right to each other annu-
ity or pension to which she or he is entitled under any 
other Act of Congress. The monetary allowance of such 
widow or widower— 
‘‘(1) commences on the day after the modern 
former President dies; 
‘‘(2) terminates on the last day of the month 
before such widow or widower dies; 
‘‘(3) is not payable for any period during which 
such widow or widower holds an appointive or elec-
tive office or position in or under the Federal Gov-
ernment to which is attached a rate of pay other 
than a nominal rate; and 
‘‘(4) shall, after its commencement date, be in-
creased at the same time that, and by the same per-
centage by which, annuities of modern former Presi-
dents are increased under subsection (c). 
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‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘modern 
former President’ means a person— 
‘‘(1) who shall have held the office of President 
of the United States of America; 
‘‘(2) whose service in such office shall have ter-
minated— 
‘‘(A) other than by removal pursuant to 
section 4 of article II of the Constitution of the 
United States of America; and 
‘‘(B) after the date of enactment of the 
Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 
2019; and 
‘‘(3) who does not then currently hold such of-
fice.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
The Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 
(1) in section 1(f)(2), as designated by this sec-
tion— 
(A) by striking ‘‘terminated other than’’ 
and inserting the following: ‘‘terminated— 
‘‘(A) other than’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) on or before the date of enactment of 
the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 
2019; and’’; and 
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(2) in section 3, as redesignated by this sec-
tion— 
(A) by inserting after the section enu-
merator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF 
APPROPRIATIONS.’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or modern former Presi-
dent’’ after ‘‘former President’’ each place that 
term appears. 
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 
Act shall be construed to affect— 
(1) any provision of law relating to the security 
or protection of a former President or modern 
former President, or a member of the family of a 
former President or modern 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. APPLICABILITY. 
Section 2 of the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as 
added by section 2(a)(3) of this Act, shall not apply to— 
(1) any individual who is a former President on 
the date of enactment of this Act; or 
(2) the widow or widower of an individual de-
scribed in paragraph (1). 
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SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
Passed the House of Representatives October 16, 
2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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