Talks begin on possible legislative enhancements to the TSP

Thrift Savings Plan officials have started discussions with Congress on proposed legislative improvements to the retirement savings program, including adding a Roth Individual Retirement Account option.

During a monthly meeting on Tuesday, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board officials said they have been in contact with the new leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over the TSP. They are hoping to meet next week with Rep. Steven Lynch, D-Mass., the new chairman of the panel's subcommittee on the federal workforce, according to Tom Trabucco, legislative director for the federal employee plan.

On the table are proposals discussed earlier this month during a meeting of the Employee Thrift Advisory Council, which is made up of federal unions and other worker organizations. The council supported automatically enrolling new federal workers into the TSP, adding a Roth feature, authorizing immediate employer matching contributions, and allowing spouses of deceased federal workers to leave their savings in the TSP.

Other potential legislative items TSP and ETAC are considering include changing the default fund for indecisive investors and creating a window for participants to access a variety of specialized mutual funds.

Trabucco said an aide to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., former chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked for information about TSP provisions the House passed in 2008 because Waxman remains interested in the addition of a Roth feature.

It's possible the TSP provisions would get attached to a larger bill, Trabucco said. He noted that plan officials will work with ETAC to prepare a formal legislative proposal to send to Capitol Hill.

Trabucco recently received a phone call from the White House Office of Presidential Personnel to discuss concerns over the fact that the terms of the TSP board's five members have expired. They are serving as holdovers, but could be replaced at any time. Board members are supposed to have staggered terms to ensure continuity. "This is the first time in the 22 years that there has been such outreach from presidential personnel," Trabucco said.

Pamela Jean Moran, TSP's director of participant services, said TSP expects to have a new demonstration Web site online by September, and participants should be able to "test drive" the site early in 2010. An upgraded Web site might garner more favorable ratings of the TSP from younger participants, officials said.

Meanwhile, officials commended Serco Group of Reston, Va., for ensuring a smooth transition after acquiring SI International, which managed one of TSP's two call centers and provided imaging, data entry and forms processing support. Serco will assume SI International's contract agreements with the plan. "We're very impressed," said Greg Long, executive director of the TSP. "We're working with SI and SERCO in such a way that doesn't create bumps in the road for us."

Mark Hagerty, chief information officer for the TSP, noted that a two-year plan to upgrade technology capabilities is on track. Officials struck an agreement with Switch & Data of Tampa, Fla., in December 2008 to expand operations to a new data facility in Northern Virginia. The plan involves replacing mainframe computers with newer technology offering more memory and faster processors, consolidating and replacing servers, modernizing IT networks, and improving storage capacity.

Officials began moving equipment into the new center last month, Hagerty said. The new data center is expected to be fully operational by September.