Financial aid to local governments and districts is structured as reimbursement for expenditures directly related to compliance with Commission standards and participation in training courses. PC 13523 authorizes the Commission to allocate aid to cities, counties and districts that have applied and qualify for aid pursuant to Commission Regulations, specifying that aid be granted with respect to "an amount determined by the commission pursuant to standards set forth in its regulations."
To address the mandates of legislation, the Commission established Regulation 1015 (Attachment A) and Procedure E (Attachment B) to describe the means of providing aid to eligible local agencies.
The current reimbursement plans are:
- Plan I: per diem, travel, tuition, and back-fill*
- Plan II: per diem, travel, and back-fill*
- Plan III:per diem, travel and tuition
- Plan IV: per diem and travel
- Plan V:per diem, travel, and tuition (though presenter)
- Plan NA: No reimbursement
*Although part of the Reimbursement Plans, all back-fill was suspended in 2014 due to budget constraints.
Per Regulation 1015(c)(2,) “Each plan is subject to the provisions established by the Commission.” And, per Regulation 1015(d)(3), “The Commission may annually, or more frequently as requested, and pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, establish the reimbursement rates for the categories of expenses approved for the reimbursement plans.”
Consequently, the existing Reimbursement Plans, while providing a modicum of reimbursement levels for various courses, do not provide the Executive Director or his/her designee the ability to adjust reimbursement levels commensurate with the needs of the field and to meet budget expenditure goals. Further, the existing Reimbursement Plans lack the ability to allow for lower cost, regional training.
The Commission approved the recommendation to amend regulation 1015 to add a Plan VI Reimbursement Plan, on June 21, 2018. However, due to a procedural technicality with the original agenda item, after discussion with the Office of Administrative Law a decision was made by staff to withdraw the Rulemaking package and re-agendize the matter.
Further, the Governor’s Proposed Budget, which was released on January 10, 2019, has recommended a restoration of POST funding, thus allowing POST the opportunity to reintroduce back-fill, and this proposal addresses a new Reimbursement Plan (Plan VII) designed to incorporate back-fill.
The proposed language in this item does not include previously approved language with the regulation, that ensured reimbursement rates remained current. That particular language, section 1015(d) through1015(d)(2)(A)(4), is already in the process of being changed and does not need to be addressed in this item (Attachment C), with the exception of an added (B) to add clarity in the line hierarchy. And, language has been inserted to reflect the new on-line training reimbursement system (eTRRs).
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