WASHINGTON-Speaking to CUNA's Examination and Supervision Subcommittee, acting NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar said that he would make the agency's budget process more open by holding a public hearing on the matter. Though not specifying a date, Dollar said the hearing would occur sometime in the fall. He said a hearing at that time would be most effective because the budget would begin "to jell enough to have a clear shape.We want to make sure that we can make any changes on issues which arise at the hearing and we find compelling and appropriate." The chairman noted that credit unions might not get everything they want from the budget, but the process will definitely be more open. The credit union trade associations have complained of the increasing NCUA budget of recent years as budgets at other agencies, like the FDIC, have shrunk. Dollar's proposal to begin an 18-month exam cycle, expected to be raised at the July board meeting, should provide some budgetary relief. "I think it's the right thing to do.We appreciate [Dollar's] efforts to bring government into the sunshine," NAFCU Senior Vice President and General Counsel Bill Donovan said. [email protected]