TVA Bill Mandates High-Level Salary Reporting, Then Immediately Locks the Data Away from Public View

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Salary Transparency Act is a short bill with a surprisingly complicated core idea: it requires the TVA to report detailed compensation for its top earners, but it simultaneously ensures the public can’t actually see that data.

The Fine Print on High-Roller Pay

This legislation forces the TVA Board to create a report detailing the compensation of its management-level employees whose salary hits or exceeds the top basic pay rate for a GS-15 federal employee. For context, the top GS-15 pay is typically well into the six figures. For every employee meeting this threshold, the report must include their name, their exact salary, and a description of their job duties. This means the TVA will be tracking and reporting on its highest-paid managers in a new, detailed way (Section 2).

Transparency, Meet the Lockbox

Here’s where the bill gets interesting—and potentially frustrating for anyone who cares about government oversight. Immediately after requiring the TVA to compile this detailed salary list, the bill explicitly states that this specific salary information is exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Think of it like this: the bill is forcing the TVA to write down exactly how much its executives make, but then it’s putting that document in a safe that only Congress and internal auditors can access. For the average citizen or journalist trying to track executive pay at this massive federal corporation, this means the door is now shut on accessing that specific salary data, removing a key tool for public accountability. The net effect is that we know the TVA has to report it, but we can’t see it, which is the opposite of transparency in practice.

Audit Language and Administrative Clean-Up

Beyond the compensation controversy, the bill does some necessary administrative housekeeping. It updates the language used when referring to audits performed by the Comptroller General (the head of the Government Accountability Office, or GAO). It replaces outdated terms like "he" or the old "General Accounting Office" with the current, correct terminology, ensuring that the TVA’s audit processes align with modern federal standards. This kind of clean-up is boring but important for keeping the gears of government running smoothly. Finally, the bill removes a small requirement for an additional statement regarding cost and revenue related to power sales reporting, slightly streamlining the TVA’s paperwork on that front.