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AGENDA ITEM REPORT

Title: Report on Amendment to Commission Regulation 1015, Reimbursement, Creating Plans VI and VII ( Regional Training)
REPORT PROFILE
MEETING DATE
2/21/2019		 BUREAU SUBMITTING THIS REPORT
Executive Office
RESEARCHED BY (PRINT NAME)
Scott Loggins		 REVIEWED BY (PRINT NAME)
REPORT DATE
01/31/2019		 APPROVED BY
Manuel Alvarez, Jr.		 DATE APPROVED
02/05/2019
PURPOSE
Decision Requested		 FINANCIAL IMPACT
Yes

ISSUE:
Should the Commission authorize POST, subject to the Notice of Proposed Regulatory Action process, to amend Regulation 1015 and Procedure E as described in this report to add a Plan VI (Regional Training Plan) and Plan VII ( Regional Training Plan with back-fill salary), and formally adopt revised versions of POST forms specified in this report?
BACKGROUND:

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).

ANALYSIS:

Although the current reimbursement plans address a multitude of training needs, regulation does not provide any middle ground reimbursement option. 

 

Under the current model staff can only fully reimburse a presenter or agency within the constraints of a specific Plan, or eliminate the entire reimbursement altogether with a Plan NA.  This arrangement does not meet the variety of training needs for the 600 plus agencies in the POST program, serving approximately 100,000 peace officers and dispatchers.

 

A common concern expressed by agencies and presenters is the inability of POST to support regional training, which would encourage local collaboration on common training goals and reduce the expenses associated with cross-state travel. Further, Commissioners have discussed the fact that it may be significantly more cost effective to pay to bring a small cadre of instructors to a local training location, rather than paying for a large group of students to travel to a training site across the state.

 

These proposed Reimbursement Plans will assist POST in prudently making use of state monies by incentivizing cost effective training, and dis-incentivizing unnecessary cross-state travel when comparable training can be obtained locally or regionally at a far more efficient cost. 

 

Included in this item are two updated POST forms, the Presenter Reimbursement Request (PRR) form, POST 2-243 (Rev 08/2018) and the Notice of Appointment/Termination (NOAT) form, POST 2-114 (rev. 08/2016) (Attachment D and Attachment E), that need to be formally adopted into Regulation. 
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Commission authorize the Executive Director to pursue the proposed changes to Procedure E and Regulation 1015 (Attachment F and Attachment G), as well as the revised versions of POST forms 2-243 and 2-114 through the Office of Administrative Law process. 
 
ATTACHMENT(S):
Name: Type:
Attachment_A.pdf Cover Memo
Attachment_B.pdf Cover Memo
Attachment_C.pdf Cover Memo
Attachment_D.pdf Cover Memo
Attachment_E.pdf Cover Memo
ATTACHMENT_F.docx Cover Memo
Attachment_G.docx Cover Memo