(a) The commission shall establish procedures to assist a community collaborative that includes a county with a population of less than 250,000 with submission of a petition under Section 547.0355.
(b) If the commission is appropriated money to implement this subchapter for a state fiscal year in an amount that exceeds the total amount of grants awarded under this subchapter in the previous state fiscal year, the commission, in selecting grant recipients for the excess amount, must accept petitions from community collaboratives that were not selected as grant recipients under this subchapter in the previous state fiscal year or collaboratives that were selected as grant recipients in the previous state fiscal year but require additional funding for the recipient's collaborative for purposes of this subchapter.