[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1777 Engrossed Amendment Senate (EAS)]

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                  In the Senate of the United States,

                                                         June 21, 2016.
    Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 
1777) entitled ``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.'', do pass with the following

                               AMENDMENT:

            Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
      following:

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, 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.
                    ``(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--
            (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.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
114th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H.R. 1777

_______________________________________________________________________

                               AMENDMENT