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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the union representing some 2,000 employees of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) renewed her call for Congress to provide SEC employees with pay parity with those of other federal financial regulatory agencies.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) issued her call today as the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations held a hearing on SEC funding, and in support of a letter from Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) to President Bush yesterday urging more money for the SEC.

Bipartisan legislation signed earlier this year authorized SEC pay parity, but the administration’s proposed 2003 budget fails to provide any money to implement the intent of Congress.

“There is not just a clear congressional mandate for pay parity for SEC employees,” Kelley said, “but a clear need for additional adequately compensated staff to protect investors and the public.”

Limited staff resources have prevented the SEC from reaching its goal of reviewing up to 35 percent of annual corporate filings. In 2001, it reviewed only about 16 percent of such filings, and in its formal budget estimate, the General Accounting Office said, the agency acknowledged it will fail to meet its inspection goals.

A recent report from GAO found that the SEC’s budget has not kept up with the growth in securities markets. Between 1991 and 2000, for example, GAO said, the number of enforcement staff devoted to investigations increased only 16 percent while the number of cases opened during that period increased 65 percent.

In his letter to President Bush, Sen. Sarbanes said he is “deeply concerned” that the administration “appears not to appreciate fully the role of the SEC in ensuring investor confidence, on which the efficient functioning of our capital markets ultimately depends.”

He pointed to the recent failure of Enron Corp. as raising “especially urgent questions” because, for the first time in our nation’s history, a majority of Americans are now investors, either directly or indirectly.

The GAO report echoed arguments that NTEU made during the debate over pay parity—especially relating to high turnover at the SEC. In 2001, it was almost twice the government-wide rate, GAO said.

President Kelley said she is hopeful that the bipartisan congressional support that created and called for pay parity for SEC employees will now “make pay parity a reality” at the SEC by providing needed funding in the 2003 budget.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.