Congressmen Cohen and Burchett Introduce Measure to Require TVA Salary Disclosure
Restores disclosure requirement repealed in 1995
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Tim Burchett (TN-2) today introduced a measure ensuring the public has access to information about the salaries of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) employees making more than $109,908 annually, or the maximum basic pay rate of a General Schedule Grade 13 (GS-13) Federal employee. At a recent oversight hearing before the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, TVA CEO Jeff Lyash, the highest paid federal government employee at $9.8 million last year, testified that TVA has declined repeated requests to provide salary information because a 1995 federal law (the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act) eliminated a previous requirement in the TVA Act that salaries be disclosed to Congress each year. The bill introduced today would restore that disclosure requirement for employees over the GS-13 pay threshold.
Congressmen Cohen and Burchett introduced a bill last year to amend the Ethics in Government Act to require certain TVA employees to include compensation in annual disclosure reports. Congressman Cohen also introduced a measure requiring that senior TVA executive salaries be comparable to that of other public utility executives in the U.S. and Canada.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“I have been asking for transparency on TVA salaries for years. There is certainly no good reason to keep the public in the dark. Our bill will remove the secrecy. Sunlight is a great disinfectant. More transparency will prevent salary abuses.”
Congressman Burchett made the following statement:
“I have seen the TVA improve its transparency in recent years, and I want to make sure that continues. This bill will help Congress keep TVA accountable for how it pays its employees, which is an important part of preserving its public trust.”
Last week, Congressmen Cohen and Burchett also introduced an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) containing a similar TVA salary disclosure requirement. The amendment was not made in order by the Rules Committee.
# # #