Responding to a call by Tennessee Valley Authority's Chairman Craven Crowell to eliminate the $106-million, annual appropriation provided to it, Representatives Bob Franks (R-NJ.) and Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) on Feb. 5 introduced a bill to end that federal payment.
The congressmen, who also co-chair of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition, distributed a study outlining the $1.2 billion in annual indirect taxpayer subsidies provided to TVA.
"We urge you to conduct an investigation into the costly tax breaks enjoyed by the investor-owned utilities at the expense of the American people," Crowell wrote. Crowell disagreed with the congressman's statements on TVA's "indirect subsidies" and said that TVA's power system had been self-financing since 1959 and receives no financial support from the federal government.
The legislation, the "TVA First-Step Reform Act," while codifying Crowell's deficit-reducing proposal, also calls for further efforts to eliminate other subsidies. It would direct the Office of Management and Budget to provide the information needed by law-makers to make more comprehensive reforms to save taxpayer money while bringing the economic benefits of competition to Tennessee Valley.