[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1411 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 507
114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1411

                          [Report No. 114-271]

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2015

   Mrs. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Kirk, and Mr. Rubio) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

                              June 7, 2016

               Reported by Mr. Johnson, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Allowance 
Modernization Act of 2015''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(a) In General.--Each former President shall be entitled 
for the remainder of his or her life to receive from the United 
States--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) an annuity at the rate of $200,000 per year, 
        subject to subsection (c); and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) a monetary allowance at the rate of $200,000 
        per year, subject to subsections (c) and (d).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Duration; Frequency.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) In general.--The annuity and allowance under 
        subsection (a) shall each--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) commence on the day after the date 
                on which an individual becomes a former 
                President;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) terminate on the date on which the 
                former President dies; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) be payable by the Secretary of the 
                Treasury on a monthly basis.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(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 or the government of the District of Columbia to 
        which is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal 
        rate.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(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)).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(d) Limitation on Monetary Allowance.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(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 
        may not exceed the amount by which--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) the monetary allowance that (but for 
                this subsection) would otherwise be so payable for such 
                12-month period, exceeds (if at all)</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) the applicable reduction amount for 
                such 12-month period.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Definition.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) the sum of--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(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</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(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)</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) $400,000, subject to 
                        subparagraph (C).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) Disclosure requirement.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) the terms `return' and 
                        `return information' have the meaning given 
                        those terms in section 6103(b) of the Internal 
                        Revenue Code of 1986; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) the term `Secretary' means 
                        the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary 
                        of the Treasury's delegate.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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)--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) disclose the return or 
                        return information to any entity or person; 
                        or</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) use the return or return 
                        information for any purpose other than to 
                        calculate the applicable reduction amount under 
                        paragraph (2).''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Surviving Spouses of Former Presidents.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Increase in amount of monetary allowance.--
        Subsection (e) of the first section of the Former Presidents 
        Act of 1958 is amended--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) in the first sentence, by striking 
                ``$20,000 per annum,'' and inserting ``$100,000 per 
                year (subject to paragraph (4)),''; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) in the second sentence--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) in paragraph (2), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 
                        the period and inserting ``; and''; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) by inserting after paragraph 
                        (3) the following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(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).''.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) by striking ``widow'' each place it 
                appears and inserting ``widow or widower''; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) by striking ``she'' and inserting 
                ``she or he''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Subsection Headings.--The first section of the Former 
Presidents Act of 1958 is amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) in subsection (e), by inserting after the 
        subsection enumerator the following: ``Widows and Widowers.--
        '';</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) in subsection (f), by inserting after the 
        subsection enumerator the following: ``Definition.--''; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) in subsection (g), by inserting after the 
        subsection enumerator the following: ``Authorization of 
        Appropriations.--''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) funding, under the Former Presidents Act of 
        1958 or any other law, to carry out any provision of law 
        described in paragraph (1).</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. TRANSITION RULES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>

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.
                                                       Calendar No. 507

114th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 1411

                          [Report No. 114-271]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  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.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              June 7, 2016

                       Reported with an amendment