Just days after it was reported that the SEC's Enforcement Division is “well down” in head count from prior years and stuck in a holding-pattern until Congress approves its new budget, two senior U.S. Senators proposed that the Enforcement Division receive $20 million in additional funds to hire more enforcement staff and upgrade its technology to fight fraud.

At a press conference yesterday, Senators Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Richard Shelby (Ala.) were joined by SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro as they proposed an amendment to the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, a bill in the Senate that expands antifraud efforts in several agencies. Reuters reports that Sen. Schumer stated that "[w]e cannot afford to nickel and dime an agency that serves as our first line of defense in this ongoing financial crisis."

The SEC currently has about 1,100 people in its Enforcement Division. The additional $20 million will reportedly allow it to hire 60 more staffers and spend an additional $5 million on technology to support the division. The proposed amendment would apply to the agency's funding for fiscal 2010 and 2011.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro was supportive of the amendment and said the additional funds were vital and "will make an enormous difference to us." Schapiro stated that she plans to add more enforcement staff, hire more examiners to expand the agency's inspections of credit rating agencies, and strengthen "risk-based surveillance" and examination of investment advisers.