1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Gulf States Coordination Act . 2. Sense of Congress and purposes (a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to attain coordination of the regional conservation and restoration efforts for the Gulf of Mexico in order to facilitate the continued economic uses of the Gulf of Mexico for the benefit of the people of the United States, to reduce duplication of efforts, and to maximize efficiencies, through a collaborative regional effort through the Gulf of Mexico Alliance in consultation with Federal agencies and State and local authorities. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are the following: (1) To expand and strengthen cooperative voluntary efforts to conserve and restore the Gulf of Mexico and maintain its highly productive multiple uses. (2) To recognize and enable the Gulf of Mexico Alliance as a lead coordinator of Federal and State authorities with other voluntary efforts for the collaborative management of the Gulf of Mexico and to coordinate such management with Mexico. (3) To enable the Gulf of Mexico Alliance to receive Federal funding through an appropriation to conduct the necessary scientific research and conservation and restoration management to achieve these purposes. 3. Gulf States protection and restoration coordination (a) Designation as a regional coordination partnership (1) Designation The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is designated as a regional coordination partnership of Federal and State actions related to the management of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. (2) Location The Gulf of Mexico Alliance shall be located in a State all, or a portion of the coastline, of which is on the Gulf of Mexico. (3) Functions The Gulf of Mexico Alliance may— (A) promote coordination of the actions of State agencies in the States that border the Gulf of Mexico and other authorities with the actions of the appropriate officials of the Federal agencies, local authorities, and representatives of key regional industries in the Gulf