(a) The governor shall designate one commissioner as the chair of the commission, who shall serve as presiding officer of the commission.
(b) The chair shall:
(1) preside over commission meetings, make rulings on motions and points of order, and determine the order of business;
(2) represent the department in dealing with the governor;
(3) report to the commission the governor’s suggestions for department operations;
(4) designate one or more employees of the department as a civil rights division of the department and receive regular reports from the division on the department’s efforts to comply with civil rights legislation and administrative rules;
(5) create subcommittees, appoint commissioners to subcommittees, and receive the reports of subcommittees to the commission as a whole;
(6) appoint a commissioner to act in the chair’s absence; and
(7) serve as the departmental liaison with the governor and the Office of State-Federal Relations to maximize federal funding for transportation.