Senate Votes to Cut Allowances, Protection of Former Presidents

The Senate, upset that the life styles of former presidents cost taxpayers more than running the White House, voted Friday to cut down on their office space, allowances and Secret Service protection.

The legislation, pushed by Sen. Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.) for the last seven years, was approved by voice vote without debate and sent to the House.

Chiles said that passage of the bill would serve as “one more step in putting tarnish on the crown of the imperial former presidents.”

With three former presidents still living--Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter--the cost of providing for former chief executives and their surviving spouses was $27 million last year, or $5 million more than it cost to run the White House of President Reagan.

Estimate of Savings

The Congressional Budget Office estimated savings of about $500,000 in 1988, increasing to more than $5 million in 1991, mostly from reduction of Secret Service protection.

The bill would authorize a staff allowance of $300,000 for each former President, gradually reduced to $200,000 over the next nine years, and one office, no larger than 4,000 square feet, in a federal building.

The legislation would prohibit the use of staff allowance for political or income-earning activities, including the preparation of memoirs or speeches.

Former presidents, now entitled to Secret Service protection for life, would be automatically guarded for five years, although the Treasury secretary could authorize annual extensions.

Protection for Families

Secret Service protection for wives and children age 16 and under would be limited to two years during the lifetime of a former President and to six months after he dies.

A current President could order Secret Service protection of a predecessor or his family at any time “a threat warrants emergency action.”

Former vice presidents would get Secret Service protection only from their last day in office to the end of that fiscal year.