Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 128 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 580 [Report No. 116–53] 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 FEBRUARY 27, 2019 Ms. ERNST (for herself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. ENZI, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. BRAUN, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs JUNE 27, 2019 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 580 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance 2 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 4 (a) FORMER PRESIDENTS.—The first section of the 5 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide retirement, clerical assist- 6 ants, and free mailing privileges to former Presidents of 7 the United States, and for other purposes’’, approved Au- 8 gust 25, 1958 (commonly known as the ‘‘Former Presi- 9 dents Act of 1958’’) (3 U.S.C. 102 note), is amended by 10 striking the matter preceding subsection (e) and inserting 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(a) ANNUITIES AND ALLOWANCES.— 13 ‘‘(1) ANNUITY.—Each former President shall 14 be entitled for the remainder of his or her life to re- 15 ceive from the United States an annuity at the rate 16 of $200,000 per year, subject to subsections (b)(2) 17 and (c), to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury. 18 ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE.—The Administrator of Gen- 19 eral Services is authorized to provide each former 20 President a monetary allowance at the rate of 21 $200,000 per year, subject to the availability of ap- 22 propriations and subsections (b)(2), (c), and (d). 23 ‘‘(b) DURATION; FREQUENCY.— 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The annuity and allowance 25 under subsection (a) shall each— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 580 RS ‘‘(A) commence on the day after the date 1 on which an individual becomes a former Presi- 2 dent; 3 ‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the 4 former President dies; and 5 ‘‘(C) be payable on a monthly basis. 6 ‘‘(2) APPOINTIVE OR ELECTIVE POSITIONS.— 7 The annuity and allowance under subsection (a) 8 shall not be payable for any period during which a 9 former President holds an appointive or elective po- 10 sition in or under the Federal Government to which 11 is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate. 12 ‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective Decem- 13 ber 1 of each year, each annuity and allowance under sub- 14 section (a) that commenced before that date shall be in- 15 creased by the same percentage by which benefit amounts 16 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 17 et seq.) are increased, effective as of that date, as a result 18 of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 19 U.S.C. 415(i)). 20 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONETARY ALLOWANCE.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 22 provision of this section, the monetary allowance 23 payable under subsection (a)(2) to a former Presi- 24 dent for any 12-month period— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 580 RS ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 1 (B), may not exceed the amount by which— 2 ‘‘(i) the monetary allowance that (but 3 for this subsection) would otherwise be so 4 payable for such 12-month period, exceeds 5 (if at all) 6 ‘‘(ii) the applicable reduction amount 7 for such 12-month period; and 8 ‘‘(B) shall not be less than the amount de- 9 termined under paragraph (4). 10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para- 12 graph (1), the term ‘applicable reduction 13 amount’ means, with respect to any former 14 President and in connection with any 12-month 15 period, the amount by which— 16 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 17 ‘‘(I) the adjusted gross income 18 (as defined in section 62 of the Inter- 19 nal Revenue Code of 1986) of the 20 former President for the most recent 21 taxable year for which a tax return is 22 available; and 23 ‘‘(II) any interest excluded from 24 the gross income of the former Presi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 580 RS dent under section 103 of such Code 1 for such taxable year, exceeds (if at 2 all) 3 ‘‘(ii) $400,000, subject to subpara- 4 graph (C). 5 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 6 joint return, subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara- 7 graph (A)(i) shall be applied by taking into ac- 8 count both the amounts properly allocable to 9 the former President and the amounts properly 10 allocable to the spouse of the former President. 11 ‘‘(C) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—The 12 dollar amount specified in subparagraph (A)(ii) 13 shall be adjusted at the same time that, and by 14 the same percentage by which, the monetary al- 15 lowance of the former President is increased 16 under subsection (c) (disregarding this sub- 17 section). 18 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.— 19 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 20 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘return’ and ‘return in- 21 formation’ have the meanings given those 22 terms in section 6103(b) of the Internal 23 Revenue Code of 1986; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 580 RS ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Secretary’ means the 1 Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary 2 of the Treasury’s delegate. 3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A former President 4 may not receive a monetary allowance under 5 subsection (a)(2) unless the former President 6 discloses to the Secretary, upon the request of 7 the Secretary, any return or return information 8 of the former President or spouse of the former 9 President that the Secretary determines is nec- 10 essary for purposes of calculating the applicable 11 reduction amount under paragraph (2) of this 12 subsection. 13 ‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as pro- 14 vided in section 6103 of the Internal Revenue 15 Code of 1986 and notwithstanding any other 16 provision of law, the Secretary may not, with 17 respect to a return or return information dis- 18 closed to the Secretary under subparagraph 19 (B)— 20 ‘‘(i) disclose the return or return in- 21 formation to any entity or person; or 22 ‘‘(ii) use the return or return informa- 23 tion for any purpose other than to cal- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 580 RS culate the applicable reduction amount 1 under paragraph (2). 2 ‘‘(4) INCREASED COSTS DUE TO SECURITY 3 NEEDS.—With respect to the monetary allowance 4 that would be payable to a former President under 5 subsection (a)(2) for any 12-month period but for 6 the limitation under paragraph (1) of this sub- 7 section, the Administrator of General Services, in co- 8 ordination with the Director of the United States 9 Secret Service, shall determine the amount of the al- 10 lowance that is needed to pay the increased cost of 11 doing business that is attributable to the security 12 needs of the former President.’’. 13 (b) SURVIVING SPOUSES OF FORMER PRESI- 14 DENTS.— 15 (1) INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF MONETARY AL- 16 LOWANCE.—Subsection (e) of the first section of the 17 Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 18 (A) in the first sentence, by striking 19 ‘‘$20,000 per annum,’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000 20 per year (subject to paragraph (4)),’’; and 21 (B) in the second sentence— 22 (i) in paragraph (2), by striking 23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 24 (ii) in paragraph (3)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 580 RS (I) by striking ‘‘or the govern- 1 ment of the District of Columbia’’; 2 and 3 (II) by striking the period and 4 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 5 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 6 the following: 7 ‘‘(4) shall, after its commencement date, be in- 8 creased at the same time that, and by the same per- 9 centage by which, annuities of former Presidents are 10 increased under subsection (c).’’. 11 (2) COVERAGE OF WIDOWER OF A FORMER 12 PRESIDENT.—Subsection (e) of the first section of 13 the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as amended by 14 paragraph (1), is amended— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘widow’’ each place it ap- 16 pears and inserting ‘‘widow or widower’’; and 17 (B) by striking ‘‘she’’ and inserting ‘‘she 18 or he’’. 19 (c) SUBSECTION HEADINGS.—The first section of the 20 Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 21 (1) in subsection (e), by inserting after the sub- 22 section enumerator the following: ‘‘WIDOWS AND 23 WIDOWERS.—’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 580 RS (2) in subsection (f), by inserting after the sub- 1 section enumerator the following: ‘‘DEFINITION.—’’; 2 and 3 (3) in subsection (g), by inserting after the sub- 4 section enumerator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION 5 OF APPROPRIATIONS.—’’. 6 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 7 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 8 Act shall be construed to affect— 9 (1) any provision of law relating to the security 10 or protection of a former President or a member of 11 the family of a former President; or 12 (2) funding, under the Former Presidents Act 13 of 1958 or any other law, to carry out any provision 14 of law described in paragraph (1). 15 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 16 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 17 not apply to— 18 (1) any individual who is a former President on 19 the date of enactment of this Act; or 20 (2) the widow or widower of an individual de- 21 scribed in paragraph (1). 22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance 24 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 580 RS SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide 2 retirement, clerical assistants, and free mailing privileges 3 to former Presidents of the United States, and for other pur- 4 poses’’, approved August 25, 1958 (commonly known as the 5 ‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’) (3 U.S.C. 102 note), is 6 amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘That (a) each’’ and inserting the 8 following: 9 ‘‘SECTION 1. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE BE- 10 FORE PRESIDENTIAL ALLOWANCE MOD- 11 ERNIZATION ACT OF 2019. 12 ‘‘(a) Each’’; 13 (2) by redesignating subsection (g) as section 3 14 and adjusting the margin accordingly; and 15 (3) by inserting after section 1, as so designated, 16 the following: 17 ‘‘SEC. 2. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE AFTER 18 PRESIDENTIAL ALLOWANCE MODERNIZATION 19 ACT OF 2019. 20 ‘‘(a) ANNUITIES AND ALLOWANCES.— 21 ‘‘(1) ANNUITY.—Each modern former President 22 shall be entitled for the remainder of his or her life 23 to receive from the United States an annuity at the 24 rate of $200,000 per year, subject to subsections (b)(2) 25 and (c), to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 580 RS ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE.—The Administrator of Gen- 1 eral Services is authorized to provide each modern 2 former President a monetary allowance at the rate of 3 $200,000 per year, subject to the availability of ap- 4 propriations and subsections (b)(2), (c), and (d). 5 ‘‘(b) DURATION; FREQUENCY.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The annuity and allowance 7 under subsection (a) shall each— 8 ‘‘(A) commence on the day after the date on 9 which an individual becomes a modern former 10 President; 11 ‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the 12 modern former President dies; and 13 ‘‘(C) be payable on a monthly basis. 14 ‘‘(2) APPOINTIVE OR ELECTIVE POSITIONS.—The 15 annuity and allowance under subsection (a) shall not 16 be payable for any period during which a modern 17 former President holds an appointive or elective posi- 18 tion in or under the Federal Government to which is 19 attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate. 20 ‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective December 21 1 of each year, each annuity and allowance under sub- 22 section (a) that commenced before that date shall be in- 23 creased by the same percentage by which benefit amounts 24 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 580 RS et seq.) are increased, effective as of that date, as a result 1 of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 2 U.S.C. 415(i)). 3 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONETARY ALLOWANCE.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 5 provision of this section, the monetary allowance pay- 6 able under subsection (a)(2) to a modern former 7 President for any 12-month period— 8 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 9 (B), may not exceed the amount by which— 10 ‘‘(i) the monetary allowance that (but 11 for this subsection) would otherwise be so 12 payable for such 12-month period, exceeds 13 (if at all) 14 ‘‘(ii) the applicable reduction amount 15 for such 12-month period; and 16 ‘‘(B) shall not be less than the amount de- 17 termined under paragraph (4). 18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para- 20 graph (1), the term ‘applicable reduction 21 amount’ means, with respect to any modern 22 former President and in connection with any 12- 23 month period, the amount by which— 24 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 580 RS ‘‘(I) the adjusted gross income (as 1 defined in section 62 of the Internal 2 Revenue Code of 1986 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]