(a) One half of the moneys shall be distributed as matching grants. The commission shall develop a matching grant program and shall award grants to tourism promotion agencies for tourism promotion of wine and culinary tourism. The commission shall establish the maximum grant amount in the applicant guidelines prepared for the matching grant program in each biennium. No more than 50 percent of the total cost of a project may be paid for with moneys from the program. An applicant must show a minimum one-to-one match from private or public sources other than Oregon Business Development Department or commission programs. The applicant must also show a cash match of at least 50 percent of the amount requested under the matching grant program.
(b) One half of the moneys shall be distributed to tourism promotion agencies for the purpose of wine and culinary tourism promotion. The commission shall distribute the moneys in proportion to the amount of acreage in each region used for wine grape production. The commission shall designate a tourism promotion agency for each region. The regions shall include the mid-Willamette Valley region and each other major wine producing region of the state as determined by the commission. The commission shall require, by rule, tourism promotion agencies to collaborate with the Oregon Wine Board and relevant regional wine industry associations designated by the commission whenever the tourism promotion agencies develop expenditure plans for moneys distributed by the commission under this section.
(2) The commission annually shall submit a report on the moneys distributed under this section to the Legislative Assembly in the manner provided in ORS 192.245 on or before October 1.
(3) The commission shall adopt rules to carry out this section.
(4) As used in this section:
(a) "Mid-Willamette Valley region" means Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties.
(b) "Tourism promotion" has the meaning given that term in ORS 320.300.
(c) "Tourism promotion agency" has the meaning given that term in ORS 320.300. [2011 c.709 §6; 2016 c.124 §1]