President's Message 
Looks like this will be my last President’s message before the reins are turned over to Mark Hatcher. Hard to believe two years can go by so quickly, but I want to extend my sincere appreciation for the hard work done by the board and committees during my tenure. Without the support and dedication of numerous hard working individuals, our association could not have addressed critical issues, nor grown to the levels we now have.
First, lets talk about San Antonio. 565 registered attendees and counting. This is the latest information on how many individuals you will be seeing in San Antonio come the first week in August. This is a new record for NCBC and our host court has been busy planning all the details to make the conference another success. While we may get a few stragglers wanting to register, registration has officially closed. If you haven’t seen Texas Western’s Texas Tattler updates, please visit our website at ncbcimpact.org and click on the conference link. The Tattler is filled with great information on the conference, and you might just find yourself laughing hard enough to fall off your horse, especially since pretty soon that is what we will all be using as our main means of transportation! Yee Haw!
On the budget front, we recently received mostly good news. This past week the AO sent out a letter on the full House Appropriations Committee budget results. The Judiciary received a 4.5% overall budget increase, with the salary and expense account receiving a 4.6% increase. The Senate is expected to take up the bill in early July, and every effort is being made to keep the House mark. While its good news, it doesn’t mean a final budget will be approved anytime soon. With this being an election year, we will probably wind up in a continuing resolution situation until February or March 2009.
For work measurement, a new predictor tool was established for FY 2009 based on the recommended formula from the Bankruptcy Clerks Advisory Group (BCAG). Courts can use this tool to determine what their staffing would be if the formula is approved later this year by the Judicial Conference. The NCBC board supports a fair and equitable distribution of any new authorized positions. During the past year, many issues were raised about the proposed formula, but the end result is good news for most Bankruptcy Clerk offices. Because of lack of filings in some districts, there still is the potential that some Bankruptcy Clerk’s offices may lose staff. However, due to the continued increase in filings and general weakness in the economy, the NCBC supports the position that if a court does have to downsize, they should not have to lose more than 10% of current staff in FY 09.
I am proud to have had the opportunity to serve all of you as your NCBC President. I look forward to staying involved with the Board as the Past President. Enjoy the rest of the summer, and see y’all in San Antonio in August.
Kenneth S. Gardner
President, NCBC