Leonard Muzyn's TVARS Blog

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has scheduled to hear oral arguments regarding the TVARS case on January 31, 2018. See notice here . TVA has recently further tightened its grip on TVARS: On October 30, 2017, the three TVA-appointed and the one lame duck elected board directors extended the term of retiree director Allen Stokes for up to a year past the expiration of his current term which ends on October 31, 2018. See meeting transcript here . On November 6, 2017, the three TVA-appointed and the one retiree board directors boycott a meeting to discuss and vote on a proposed amendment to provide for the election of the retiree director by retirees. On December 4, 2017, with a majority of the TVARS Board controlled by the three TVA-appointed and the retiree directors, the TVARS Board chose two TVA-appointed directors to assume the positions of Chairman and Vice-Chairman. This is the first time I can remember a TVA-appointed director holding the position o...

Retiree COLAs: 1.84% for original, cash balance, and supplemental pension benefits based on 2.09% CPI increase less 0.25%. Current Employee Interest Rates: 6.0% on Cash Balance accounts for those hired before January 1, 1996 based on 6.0% minimum. 4.75% on Cash Balance accounts for those hired on or after January 1, 1996 based on minimum of assumed investment return of 6.75% less 2.0%. 4.75% on fixed annuity accounts based on minimum of assumed investment return of 6.75% less 2.0%. These were approved this afternoon at the December 4, 2017 quarterly TVARS Board Meeting.

The Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings law firm continues to fight on behalf of TVA employees and retirees against TVA and TVARS. Oral arguments have been scheduled for January 31, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Please see Notice of Oral Argument filed on November 27, 2017 . The Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings law firm previously submitted documents to the court explaining that the Court should decide what the TVARS rules mean, that the 2009 TVARS amendments are invalid because the TVARS Board failed to give proper notice, and that the TVARS Board made unlawful debits from the excess COLA account for 2009-2013. Please see Appelant's Reply Brief filed on August 28, 2017 for details. As I have from the beginning, I continue to side with TVA employees and retirees and believe that the 2009 amendments are invalid. Unfortunately, a majority of the TVARS Board continues to disagree with me. This illustrates just how long over due is the 2018 TVARS Accountability Improvement Plan whic...