What YOU can do to fight back - IFT limit

From: senator@isakson.senate.gov [mailto:senator@isakson.senate.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 9:29 AM
To: XXX.XXXXX@us.army.mil
Subject: A Response From Johnny Isakson

<http://www.isakson.senate.gov>


Dear XXXXX:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Thrift Savings Plan. I appreciate your thoughts and the opportunity to respond.



As you are well aware, the Thrift Savings Plan is a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees and it is very similar to 401(k) plans offered to employees of private corporations.

Ultimately, it is up to the federal employee to decide how much of their income will be invested into a thrift savings plan. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is the independent government agency responsible for managing the Thrift Savings Plan. I understand your frustration regarding the board's decision to impose new restrictions on inter-fund transfers.

Currently, there is no legislation regarding this specific issue. Should such legislation come before me in the Senate, I will be sure to keep your concerns in mind.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter.



Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator

For future correspondence with my office, please visit my web site at
http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm
<http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm>

(Isakson is the junior Republican Senator from Georgia. Wikipedia says he's ranked 7th most conservative in the Senate).
 
I think whoever is going to file suit, ought to start with ETAC members as defendants in civil court- the board could not have authorized Long to suspend IFTs by internet if the ETAC had told them no.
 
STATEMENT BY THOMAS J. TRABUCCO, DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS,
FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD, BEFORE THE HOUSE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE AND AGENCY ORGANIZATION
APRIL 26, 2006

Good Afternoon Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommit-
tee. My name is Tom Trabucco and I am the Director of External
Affairs for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. My
position includes three main areas of responsibility -- legisla-
tive affairs, the press, and relations with the unions and asso-
ciations representing Federal and Postal employees. I also
serve as the Agency’s spokesman when the Executive Director is
not available.

I have served in this position for nearly twenty years as a
career member of the Senior Executive Service. Before that I
served for a total of thirteen years handling legislative mat-
ters for two organizations -- the National Association of Re-
tired Federal Employees and the National Federation of Federal
Employees -- and as a staff member to the predecessor of this
committee.

Since coming to the Thrift Investment Board in 1987, it has
been my great privilege to work with many outstanding individu-
als in the Agency, the employee organizations, the Executive
branch and the Congress who were completely dedicated to the
success of the Thrift Savings Plan. There has been a truly ex-
ceptional effort to assure those who place their retirement sav-
ings in the TSP that this plan would be managed solely in their
interest by expert fiduciaries.

This does not mean there have not been different views
openly expressed. In a 1989 hearing, the Chairman of the
Board’s House authorizing subcommittee strongly urged the Execu-
tive Director to support a policy that would disinvest in cer-
tain companies doing business in Northern Ireland or South Af-
rica. The Executive Director at that time respectfully de-
clined. The Mortgage Bankers Association and others sought leg-
islation to establish a mortgage backed securities fund in the
TSP. The Board opposed this, and it was not advanced in the
Congress.

Certain Members of Congress have also promoted legislation
to require a small and minority-owned business fund, a precious
metals fund, a corporate responsibility fund, and other addi-
tional TSP investments or divestments over the Agency’s twenty-
[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Page 2[/FONT]

- 2 -

year history. The Board examined and opposed each of these pro-
posals. Although the Congress could have enacted any of these
proposals over the objections of the Board, the proponents ulti-
mately decided to defer to the fiduciaries who are required to
act solely in the interest of TSP participants and beneficiar-
ies.

When Congress created the TSP, it recognized that the ex-
perts who serve as the Plan fiduciaries -- the Board Members and
Executive Director -- would not necessarily be familiar with the
Federal workforce. To ensure that the employees eligible to
participate had top-level input into all investment and adminis-
trative matters considered by the Board, the House committee
proposed the Employee Thrift Advisory Council. The Council was
created and has functioned exactly as envisioned ever since.

Although the Executive Director and the ETAC have worked
together over the years, they have sometimes disagreed. For ex-
ample, at the Subcommittee hearing in 1989 the Council Chairman
made clear that his and many other ETAC organizations supported
restrictions on investments in South Africa and Northern Ire-
land. More recently, some Council members have sought IRA type
features for the TSP as well as other changes that are not being
actively pursued at this time. These matters remain under ac-
tive discussion, however. It is my expectation that future Ex-
ecutive Directors and Councils will continue to see the wisdom
of discussing and agreeably working through issues to reach con-
sensus for the benefit of Plan participants.

Part of my job at the Board is to serve as the secretary to
the Council. In this role, I am the primary point of contact
between Council Members and the Executive Director. Council
members are appointed by the Chairman of the Board from organi-
zations prescribed by law. I manage the process by which nomi-
nations are solicited from the presidents of each of these un-
ions and associations. I am also responsible for filing the an-
nual reports regarding Council activities as required by the
Federal Advisory Committee Act and performing other administra-
tive support functions.

By law, the Executive Director meets at the request of the
Council. I normally receive the first call that a meeting is
being requested. I coordinate with the Committee Management
Officer (the Agency’s General Counsel) to develop the meeting
notice and forward the agenda for publication in the Federal
Register. As Executive Director Amelio stated, I responded to
[FONT=arial,sans-serif]Page 3[/FONT]

- 3 -

Chairman Sauber’s request regarding his resolution opposing
REITs. He told me the points that he wanted in the resolution
and asked that I run them by the General Counsel to ensure that
they were put in the proper legal language and that he was prop-
erly following the statutory provision regarding Council resolu-
tions. I did so.

The General Counsel advised me that the resolution I
drafted based on Chairman Sauber’s specifications was fine and
that his actions were consistent with both the law and the ETAC
charter. A copy of that charter is attached. She further ad-
vised that Mr. Sauber should be sure to circulate his resolution
in advance of the meeting.

I forwarded the file that I had created to Mr. Sauber.

I recall that Mr. Sauber made two rounds of revisions which he
circulated to Council members and copied to me. I also asked
him just before the meeting to send me his final version so we
had a copy that could be promptly edited to reflect any amend-
ments made at the meeting. The resolution was indeed again re-
vised at the ETAC meeting. Board staff promptly produced a fi-
nal version for ETAC members at the meeting and it was approved
by the Council.

That concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased
to respond to any questions you may have regarding the Employee
Thrift Advisory Council.

Attachment
 
Gaetaone said:
Does anyone know who the TSP Congressional Liaison is? I heard today that we have one. I also heard back from Congressman Heller's office and they're pushing to stop the 549 ban on IFT's.

John
Click to expand...

TSP Employee Tom Trabucco is the legislative person.
 
Okay, I'm done for the day.... I sent in one more letter with a little different approach:

Thomas K. Emswiler, General Counsel
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
1250 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
FAX: (202) 942-1676


Subject:

Docket Title: Participants Choices of TSP Funds
Document ID: FRTIB-2008-0004-0001
Federal Register Number: E8-04776
Date Posted 3-10-08, Comments Due 4-9-08



Dear Mr. Emswiler,

I am one of the 549 who have had his/her ability to make electronic transfers. I wish to comment on Mr. Longs decision to arbitrarily punish a select group of TSP members and to point out why the proposed rule change should not be approved.

I do not believe that Mr. Long has been given the necessary authority by the Board to do this and that the action was discriminatory towards a few individuals, not applied equally amongst all TSP members. I would like my ability to make IFT’s restored and to have Mr. Long removed for cause.

I would like you to disapprove the proposed rule change to limit the number of electronic transfers a TSP participant can make. The provision to allow TSP Participants the opportunity to make changes in their TSP allocation helped determine my decision to remain in the federal workforce. A change now would result in a material adverse change and as such I feel that all current TSP members like myself, would be entitled to compensatory damages. Any change approved should apply only to those who have not already entered or sustained federal employment service and who do not already have an implied benefit. This would simply be a “Grandfather Clause” to the proposed rule and would limit TSP liability.
 
Does anyone know who the TSP Congressional Liaison is? I heard today that we have one. I also heard back from Congressman Heller's office and they're pushing to stop the 549 ban on IFT's.

John
 
If you get any more info on Congressman Carney's proposal, please let us know. This is the first I have heard of it, and I don't know what Carney has in mind.
 
AN EMAIL FROM AFGE:

"While speaking at this weeks Conference, Congressman Carney again
echoed his support for prison workers and the proper funding and is
committed to holding hearings in the future. On March 13th, 2008 he
worked with Congressman Mollohan on constructing a "Dear Colleague
Letter" asking for support on the necessary funding for Correctional
Facilities. He realizes that the current Anti-deficiency Act (deficient)
money we are currently receiving is only a stopgap and does not make
up for the 400 Million plus shortfall in S&E and B&F funding. Next week,
Congressman Carney will once again visit another Institution for a tour
and carry our message forward. He is also working on behalf of Federal
Workers to revise the current Thrift Savings Plan by eliminating the early
withdrawal penalty, the amount of times you can move your funds and
correct the matter of temporary employee issue".

I'VE BEEN GETTING WORD BACK FROM OUR LOCAL, THAT THE NATIONAL
AFGE UNION HAS BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN COMMUNICATIONS WITH
LEGISLATORS CONCERNING OUR OBJECTION TO IFT LIMITS.
 
I want to know why Congress & the Senate have been mute on this matter. Maybe they think we don't matter. Maybe they suport the FRTIB if so 3.9 Million families should know that in the next election. Where is Hillary Clinton she has all the TSP infomation and I was notified she would look into this situation and so far nothing.

I contacted Henry Waxman and he has the information but no reply to my request for an investigation. I contacted the entire Committee and yet the only reply was from Congressman Stephen Lynch (D) Massachusetts - if you watched the Clemens hearing he was the one who had Clemens on the ropes about the Medical Report.

I read somewhere that members have received replies about contact your own Congressman in your area that is wrong. When a member is on a particular Committee they are supposed to get information from every source if there is a concern so point is go after the Committee and suddenly Senator Susan Collins (R) Maine is quiet was 2003/2004 her election year ???
 
I was one of the first mandatory FERS signups, early 1986. In fact, my retirement history shows I have like 1-2 months of CSRS-offset, which I didn't know til shortly before all our local HR people retired or disappeared for other reasons. I was never given a concious choice of retirement systems, so still don't quite get how I ended up with a smidge of CSRS-offset, but I did.

Long and short of it, the caller to Rush sounds legit, just a bit fuzzy on history since they apparently came into the system later than me and Anidoc. And no, I do not listen to Rush except once every now and then out of sick fascination, and its been nearly 10 years since the last time. Guess I got over being sick. :laugh:
 
anidoc said:
well just this snippet of the caller's remark is wrong...we all know TSP was established in 1976 or so. Makes me wonder if the caller is in fact a former fed or a Rush plant.
Click to expand...

I entered the Federal service in July 1979. There was no TSP at that time. TSP was part of the new Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) that was enacted under President Reagan. I looked at my first TSP paperwork when the system was just starting (I keep everything) and it was dated June 1987. I think that caller may have been legit. Can anyone find out what was said? Rush reaches about 3-5 million listeners a day. If that caller was trying to make our case, it would be the biggest audience we've had yet. Just curious.
 
I just faxed in my comments on the proposed rule. I will also mail in my comments. I encourage everyone else to fax and mail in their comments. With the NTEU opposition, James' analysis, and the beginning of some long overdue Congressional interest in this, the FRTIB just might back down a little bit from the proposed rule.
 
Anidoc,
You won't believe how unskilled I am working with computers. I do need help and I thank you for offering this link. If it's a matter of simple downloading and ready to use, I'll put it to use as soon as I get home this PM. Some time ago, I was downloading a spreadsheet that another member had kindly offered for free and I was not able to use it because my security system had popped a notice, and I decided not to lower the level of security for fear of getting some virus or the like. Keep in touch and Tia.
 
anidoc said:
Air, if you haven't already, start a spreadsheet to track your blocked IFT's and potential gains losses caused by the restrictions. It will come in handy if/when legal action is needed. I created my own version, but you can use this one if you don't have time to set up formulas, etc.

http://www.tsptalk.com/utilities.html
Click to expand...

Didn't 'they' award some early FERS participants, due to not transfering them from CSRS to FERS, what they would have earned if they were in the best performing TSP fund at the time?
 
Does anyone know how long we will be stuck in purgatory?
icon8.gif
 
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