Sec. 391.012. STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. (a) To qualify for state financial assistance, a commission must:

(1) have funds available annually from sources other than federal or state governments equal to or greater than half of the state financial assistance for which the commission applies;

(2) comply with the regulations of the agency responsible for administering this chapter;

(3) offer membership in the commission to all counties and municipalities included in the state planning region;

(4) include any combination of counties or municipalities having a combined population equal to or greater than 60 percent of the population of the state planning region;

(5) include at least one full county;

(6) encompass an area that is economically and geographically interrelated and forms a logical planning region; and

(7) be engaged in a regional planning process.

(b) Within funds available and in accordance with rules issued by the office of the governor, a commission may use state financial assistance to:

(1) promote intergovernmental cooperation by coordinating regional plans and programs with member governments, nonmember governments, state agencies which impact the region, and, where state agencies have regional office structures, state agency regional offices;

(2) function as a regional review agency under the Texas Review and Comment System pursuant to state and federal statutes and regulations;

(3) leverage commission dues, local funds, and state funds to obtain maximum federal funding assistance and private funding for the state and the region;

(4) provide assistance to local governments;

(5) assist state agencies and organizations in developing local and regional input for state plans, in planning for the successful implementation of state programs at the regional level as required in Section 391.009(c), in preparing for and conducting state-sponsored hearings and public meetings, and in disseminating state-generated information and educational materials; and

(6) provide assistance to state agencies and organizations in developing, implementing, and assessing state programs and services within the region as needed.

(c) A commission that qualifies for state financial assistance is eligible annually for an amount determined as follows:

(1) $1,000 for each dues-paying member county;

(2) an additional 10 cents per capita for the population of dues-paying member counties and municipalities; and

(3) the amount necessary to assure that the total amount available to the commission is no less than $50,000.

(d) If state appropriations are more than the amount necessary to fund the level of financial assistance generated by this formula, the governor shall increase the funding for which each commission is eligible in proportion to the amount it would have been eligible to receive in Subsection (c).

(e) If state appropriations are less than the amount necessary to fund the level of financial assistance generated by the formula in Subsection (c) above:

(1) No commission shall receive less than annual financial assistance of $50,000, as long as financial assistance available to all commissions remains at or above the level of assistance allocated in fiscal year 2003.

(2) If available annual financial assistance is less than the amount allocated in fiscal year 2003, assistance to all commissions shall be reduced proportionally from the assistance they would have received at the fiscal year 2003 funding level.

(f) For the purposes of this section, the population of a county is the population outside all dues-paying member municipalities.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1137, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.