Miscellaneous Expenditures — Seminars, Conferences…
Authority to Sponsor and Charge Fees

A state agency may pay the cost of sponsoring a seminar or conference if it has statutory authority to sponsor it. A state agency has statutory authority if the seminar or conference bears a reasonable, substantial, and direct relationship to the duties and functions of the agency.

A state agency with statutory authority to sponsor a seminar or conference may charge a fee to each person who attends. The fee revenues may be used only to defray the sponsorship expense. Applicable expenses include the purchase of food when the registration fee for the seminar or conference contains a mandatory and non-separable cost component based on a cost recovery methodology to pay for the cost of food provided to attendees during the seminar or conference.

If the state agency receiving fee revenues qualifies as a state agency under the State Funds Reform Act, the revenues must be deposited into the State Treasury unless an exemption in that Act applies.

Definition:

State agency

An office, institution, or other agency in the executive branch of state government that has authority not limited to a geographical portion of the state, that was created by the constitution or a statute of this state, but does not include an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.

Sources [+]