Sec. 441.010. ELECTRONICALLY SEARCHABLE CENTRAL GRANT DATABASE

(a) In this section:

(1) "Department" means the Department of Information Resources.

(2) "Grant" means a grant, contract, or other cooperative agreement under which a state agency awards financial assistance in the form of money, property, a loan, or another thing of value to a governmental or nongovernmental entity and the governmental or nongovernmental entity receiving the award is responsible for implementing a state or federal program in accordance with guidelines provided by the agency awarding the grant. The term does not include a contract to obtain a professional or consulting service subject to Chapter 2254.

(b) The commission, in cooperation with the department, shall establish an electronically searchable central database accessible through the commission's on-line access system that will allow a person to:

(1) use keyword searches to discover all available state agency grant opportunities;

(2) obtain basic information regarding each available state agency grant opportunity, including basic information about the program that the grant recipient will implement, the geographic area in which the grant recipient will implement the program, the eligibility requirements for obtaining the grant, and the grant application process; and

(3) electronically link to the portion of the granting agency's website at which the person may obtain more detailed information about each available state agency grant opportunity.

(c) The department shall provide a link on the state electronic Internet portal to the database established under Subsection (b). In this subsection, "state electronic Internet portal" has the meaning assigned by Section 2054.003.

(d) Each state agency that will award a grant shall, concurrently with any other action the agency takes to inform the public or any person about the grant opportunity, report to the commission information related to the grant that the commission requires in a form prescribed by the commission so that the commission may include information about the grant in the electronically searchable central database established under Subsection (b).

(e) The governor shall appoint an advisory committee composed of nine representatives from the Electronic Grants Technical Assistance Workgroup to:

(1) gather input from public and other users of the database; and

(2) advise the commission regarding the development of the database and regarding the commission's exercise of its powers under Subsection (d).

(f) The advisory committee appointed under Subsection (e) shall meet in Austin. A state agency that is represented on the committee by a person who is not based in the Austin area is responsible for any travel expenses incurred by its representative.

(g) The commission shall appoint an advisory committee composed of five public members to annually evaluate the operation of the electronically searchable central database.

(h) Chapter 2110 does not apply to an advisory committee formed under this section.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1246, Sec. 28, eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 973 , Sec. 7, eff. June 17, 2011.