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 Mod-
ernization 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 sub-
section (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 Presi-
dent 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 com-
menced 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 sub-
section) 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 dele-
gate. 
‘‘(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 para-
graph (2) of this subsection.
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‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as provided in section 
6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and notwith-
standing 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 reduc-
tion 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 Adminis-
trator 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.—Sub-
section (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 para-
graph (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 Dis-
trict 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.—Sub-
section (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 enu-
merator the following: ‘‘WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS.—’’; 
(2) in subsection (f), by inserting after the subsection enu-
merator the following: ‘‘DEFINITION.—’’; and 
(3) in subsection (g), by inserting after the subsection 
enumerator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—’’. 
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.