The Senate Agriculture Committee this week began its reauthorization work on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), holding at hearing featuring commission Chair Gary Gensler.

Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) made it clear she sees a need for closer regulatory oversight as new Dodd-Frank regulations are rolled out, a bigger CFTC budget and she wants public input on how the commission reauthorization should proceed.

Stabenow announced she and committee ranking member Sen. Thad Cochran (R, MS) will release a joint letter inviting the public to comment on the future legislation to reauthorize the CFTC, saying “These markets…must be orderly, transparent, competitive and safe for trading. We must have markets that allow farmers, small businesses and others to manage risk without fear.” On the funding issue, she added, “That also means we need our ‘cops on the beat’ to have the resources they need to do their jobs.”

The CFTC’s Gensler echoed Stabenow’s call for more resources, saying his panel is “wrong-sized for the job,” and that due to inadequate funding, the commission is deferring enforcement cases and is backlogged on examinations.