President Barack Obama has the right people heading regulatory agencies, but they need more money and resources, experts say.

The Center for Progressive Reform, a liberal research organization, released a one-year "report card" Thursday analyzing Obama's progress on regulatory reform. The group gave him a B-minus and praised his appointees — particularly Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and Margaret Hamburg, Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

But Rena Steinzor, the organization's president, said many regulatory agencies are still starved for resources.

"We don't underestimate the challenges [Obama] is facing," Steinzor said. "But we're frustrated because of how easy it would be to fix some of these problems. It just takes more money ... relatively speaking, a small amount."

Many regulatory agencies saw their budgets and staffing levels shrink during the Bush administration. They received sizable increases in Obama's 2010 budget: FDA, for example, saw its budget increase by $295 million, a 14 percent boost; and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration grew by $50 million, a 10 percent increase.

But those trends are unlikely to continue — the Office of Management and Budget has warned agencies to prepare for tight budgets — and experts say the one-time increases aren't enough to undo years of neglect.

"If you look at the historic trends, most of these agencies have been hollowed out," Rick Melberth, regulatory policy director at the nonprofit OMB Watch, said in an interview. "They're desperately in need of more resources."

Advocacy groups also say OMB is too heavily involved with the regulatory process — echoing a frequent complaint from the last administration. As an example, they cite a new EPA rule that would classify coal ash, a byproduct of coal power plants, as a hazardous waste. Cass Sunstein, OMB's regulatory czar, has held nearly 20 meetings with coal industry officials since October. The White House announced last month that the rule — which was supposed to be issued by Dec. 31 — had been delayed.

"These appointments at these regulatory agencies have been terrific. Now Obama just needs to leave them alone and let them do their jobs," Steinzor said.

OMB didn't respond to a request for comment.

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