Case Information
*1 GENE~L TIJIEAT~-!P~D~Y
OP TEXAS
Honorable Oeo. II. Sheppard
Cciaptroller of Public Aacounts Texax
Awtln,
Dear lllrr <)plnlon #IO. o-4365
R&t commuotiim of allocatlonn.to and appropriation8 out of the old AgeAurl&tnccINnd
Your letter of June 11th requeatlng our opinion on two qucrtione relating to fhe Old Age Aaolstanct Fund read8 aa followEr
YJID AOE XSSxsTAwcE FUND FxpmDITuREs "senate Bill 490 (Artialc 70&a). Forty-seventh LeglO- laturt, nmendlng Stctlon 2, Article XX, Houxe Blll 8 Of Regular Session ot -th$. Foey-seventh Ltg~l.+re ccemwnly known a8 the tiibw Tax Bill, ha6 do ulth allocation of the revenue6 derived frcm Certain ocaupa- tlcm and gross recelpte taxes, and reference is particularly made to the iollcmlng portion of Senate Bill No. 4901
"#(4) After the above allocation8 and mnta have been made from such Cl earatweFund,thereahallbepald there!'raa into the Old-Age Aarlatanoa Fund on the flrot OS each Ronth, much u, whloh, taken rlth other suma paid Into ruch Old-Age Amal8tenee Fund by virtue ot other law 8tlll in force, will equal a total of b xflllon Seven Hundred Flrt~Thowazxl ($1,750,000.00) Dollare,and mueh mm la hereby appropriated for wo provide6 by law for much Old-Age Amlstanoe Fund. Should ruch payment8 into Old-Age A8(118tuktt Rud virtue of other law8 exaeed One lUllion Seven Rundred Fifty Thowancl ($1,7~,COO.o0) Dollar8, in any one wnth, then not more than Cne eJilllon Seven lfundrecl Hfty Thousand (~1,750,000.09) Dollars or 8uch e&all be expended for old-age asrletence in Fueh month EM the rtmalnder in exceea thenot shsl).-be with- held until the succwdiag month or months and be taken lnta cnnelderatla in allocating fund8 Fiat the Clearance Fund to the Old-Age dsslstanae ud the amount paid Puti, in from the Clearanue Fund into the Old-Age'Amlstance Fund rhall be reduced Ccordingly to end a sta- *2 tonorablo Qeo. li. S&Oplrrd, p4ze 2
~~~~~&ttup~~~l~~~krerred to above it has been the practice of thim dejnwtamt to sake a month frcathe Qmlbau transferonthe flrstdsJofeach clearanae hnd to the Old-Age A8slrtance Fund or an amount uhlch, when added to the cash balUrCe then in the Old-Age A8alatanee nun3 together ulth receipts to the trnd by virtue of other law will equal $1,750,000.03. In other of each aucceedlng month the balance word, on the tlMt d Is nlred back to the l,~O,OOO.~.
%e balance lxi the Old-Af$e hdmlnlatation find, uhlch fimd is tonaldared a part o? the Old-Age Amalatance Fund, although tarried in a separate account, 16 also cCnraldtmd .ln arrldng at the agount to be &ansferred when brlnglne balance In the Old-Age Rsslstencc Ptmd up to the $1,730,600.00. Thl$ Old-Age 4dItlnlatratlon Pccount I8 raintatned by tra8ferring suns f’rom the Old-Age &aalatanot Fund In amount6 aa 8nd when requested by the Public Ytlfare Depzkrtment.. The law dots not preacrlbe thla separate ac- count, but the fast that the leglslatwe appropriates out of the Old-Age Aealetence Fxmd otrtaln amounta for admlnis- tratlan and the law ?urther limits the admlnlstratlvt coat to 3% o? asalatance paid makes it ntoeaaary to reparatt accounta in wder to onntrol the expenditures.
“Durlngeachaonththen are a nunibero~werrfinta cancelled, aaualng a c-it t.o fund account and thereby ralalng the balance. Practically all of cancellations are ofuarraaita whlehuere l8auedln some previous mmth Md again& that gn*iOUS IMAth. allOtIaMIt Or DOatf. Tht meet CQ~OD reamon for these cancellation8 l8 that the pensloner dlcs before reoelvlngbl8 uarant. The warranta are returned, cancalled and eredlted back to tbc fund In ooe rubaequent month,wMBg aonth’e total credits to xccsd the grtatlonary 8um' of (1,750.ooO.00
vnt11 recently the total wrMnt8 lamed against tk8e funds in a 8lngle month have not amounted to the $1,753,000.00, thereby leaving a balance an great as or greater than amount of cancellatlowi to be taken into conaldtratlon In allocating the fund8 for the folloulog month uhen brlnglng balance up to the rtqu@‘ed $1,75a, 003.00.
-lJou thlt the OM-Qe Asalatanoc grants and the cost of adainlatratlon together have reached and tight exceed the ~1~750,000.00 la a given month, the question arises u to the use of the or&its eaueed by the oancellatlon I thtnrorc request your answer of url tame uarranta. the ro~loulng qut8tloM:
.
HonorableOeo.H.3)uppard, page 3,
IR the Captroller 8co~llahlng the PurW8e
of t~l&-wlslon Aat quoted ln ~ollouing the prsctlce of c~nslderlng she 888h b8lancc at the clo8e of one mnth la srklvlng at the maount k transferred ao the lint of each mmth, even thigh thrrc right be an mdekrmkbed uaount of s6mlnlatratlw Xpen8e accounts 0utatudlng8ndunp8idutthctlme?
"In wutrlng thl.8 queatlon @ease bear lm alnU that the&ire almkya 8ome unpaid sccounta while cut the other hand there rue current expenditures for 8upplle8 which are to be used throughout the future mnth8. Also, that One 8tatute (the knlbus Tax Bill) products the none7 8Nle another authorire the cxpendlturea. *
-2. 18 the Comptroller authorlred to l8aut durlk: any one month rsrrsnta for the psyment of old-sge aaalst- anct and adminlatratlon coaablned totallng more than $1,750,003.00 if the amant ln excess of ~1,750,000.09 la not greeter thsn the amount of cancelled utrranta credit described abwe?
-1 8hall be glad to hew you confer vlth rtpr484ntt- tiwa of this department 8nd Publfc Yelfsre Depsrtment if you wlah further detailed lnfoznatlon :b,bout the operation Of ule aCCoWit6 befor lpaklng JOUr IVPU.
You q&c at beglnnlng 0r pur letter that portlar of Senate Bill 490, Acts 47th Legislature, upon th8 CaeMructlon or rNch depends the 6naWera to your questions.
Uhlle Senate Bill 490 8menda section 2 of Article XX of Abuse Bill 8 (Wnlbw Tax Bill) same resalon, that portiaa of Senate Bill 490 uhloh you quote, repeats unahsnged asme provlslons 88 eaatalned In House Bill 8. The leglslt- five Intent 88 to said prwl~lon, fber8fore, m6y be ng8rded t8 unchang48 fraa Iioust~ZUll.iS, so thtt wtanaot look to other portlow of R. B. 490 for help in tsctrtslnlng the legtslatlw intent embodied ln the provlslrans under consldemtlon.
& now constituted, payments into the 0ld"Age Aaalat- . ante Fud art pads fraa two sources:
(1) The clcsrsnce fund and (2)'ctrtaln tsxe6'tihich are paid dlrectty into Age A8alat8nce ?und. These letter . ar4 three-fourths of th4 rtwnuts collected trap tares on (a) calm-operated machlnts, (b) Bw1acIDcnt8, (c) ulna, b44r and liquor stamp taxes and (d) 811 the revenues frcu wine, beer ud liquor permits.
-The revenues IYaa these t8x sourc~a, partlCUl8rl;t as A ;z ice; wlae sn&llquor permltr, vsry COn8iderabl.y from month
. In quoted statute, these Mwnuea are d48crlb4d .- _
Xonorable Oao. 8. Sheppard. page 4
aa 'other sums paid Into tha Old-Age A&slstanca Fund by vlrtua of ot!wr lawa at111 In farce.' The utdoubtad Purbwee of tha quoted provlrlon was to asaura that thara ba available a 8tatIonary sum of $1,750,000.00 per month', 1rrcSptctIvt of fluctuatIona in tht monthly raoe:pts from t!aa taxa8 which have baan spaclflcally allocatad ta the old hgc haslrtanca Fuacl. This purport is acaampllshad by the firat StnttnCt Of raid aub- mtctlon (4), which read81
'iftar the abwe allocations and paymanta have been made frcm such Clearance Fund, there rhsll. ba pald thare- srom fnto old-Agt 4sslstanct Fund on tht rmt or each aonth, much sum, uhlch, taktn u:th other 8UmS paid into such old-4ga ABslstance Rurd by virtue of other laws etlll.ln force, will aqua1 a total of One HlllIon Swan Hundred ?lfty Thousand (~1,75O,OD9.03) Dollars, and such mum la her+by approprlatad for the* use provldad by law for such 9ld-Pgi? Assistance Fund. $1,75O,OQO.~ will be This aantanct a86urto Agt Assistance F'und on the first of each
~~-d&ntotht It dots not U&It the mrpandltura8 from the fund to such kount each month. Ror dots it provide that unexpendad balancas fmm preceding months in the Ol&.$gt Assistanct purd rhall ba conaldarad In dettr&nJ.ng fha amount uhich ahall be . paid ln from tht clearance fund. Tht $1,75O,COO.O0 paid lnto
the Old &a Asdhmct Ru%d.cach month consists on- of the total rtvtnue darlvad from tha "other laws' during tht pracad- lng month, plus whatever addltloml am may ba naceiwwy from tht clearance fund to m&a a total of ~1,~,000.00 And euch mm ti bt p8Id into tha Old A@ A8816tmt Fund on tha r'irrt ofeverymonth,irraspactivt o~unaxpandadblanea8 frompravIouS mcmrtharemainlng in the fund.
Tha second r&tenet tht quoted prwl8Ion doe8 not lmprposa a gtntral limitation upon the amount whiah may ba expcadad each month from tha fund. A careiLllreadl~wIll l M.thattha entIra rtnteaca applies only In those month8 %n uhlch the rwtnutt from ‘other laws* txcead ~l,~~,OOO.QDt :
Should such paymantn into the Old-Age Aaslstpnca Fiend vlrtua ot other laws 8xcttd clne Xllllon Savta lkmdrtd Fifty Thousand ($1,750,000.00) Dolleu's,Jn any one month, than not more than Out Rilllon Seven Xundrad Fifty hou6and ($1,750,ooO.00) Dollar8 of uch shall ba expandad for old-age asslatace In uch month; and tht mnaitxlar in cxceem tbtreof shall be rlth!beld until tht sacceedng month or month8 and ba taken into consldaratlm in allocating fun& from the Cleuwnca PUnd to tha Old-Age Aulmtaacc Fund, aad amount p81diln frcm the Claarance nmd lntdtht Old-Ag8 Aesirtance lhniil 8hall be reduead accordinglytotha end that* rtrtlolry rumof olt RIl- lia! +men -red Fll't~ Thowand (&750,000.00) 0011~~ y~,y$h bt awM@al f'rm Skk fund8 ior old-w
Actually, the revenue tror *other lw8" hiw never axcatd, nor even approached ~l,~,OiW.OO ln any one month, a0 that thlr pro~l~lon haa never becoll~ OptMtlW. ~MQ ii It rhould baacue operative, it uould 1Imlt the expenditure out of Old Agt X8slrt@nca Fund in that mouth to $l,75O,WO.O0 only a8 to 'Isuch* money a8 uaa pal& ln that month. It would not forbid l sd:ng In addltlon to 'Luch* $1,750,009.00, other modes which might be In the &e A88fst8nCe ?und virtue of unexptnded balances left wtr fran prlor‘month8.
Tha final courseI *to tht and that a stationary 8um bf One Wlllon Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand ($1,750,000.00) hllar8 per aonth be ava:lablc", la to be conatruad, we bellew, not to prescrfbe the amount which may be expanded, butkthe emount whlah 18 to be al1oCateU to the 0ld Age Aslrlstanct Fund each month. Thus construed, the entire provlrlon undtr consldcrat:on l8 an allocation of monlae into the Old Ago Assiatanca Fund, rather than sn appropriation thereof. Ut find the appropriation of these funds in the Departmental Approprktlon Bill, S. D. 423, nets 47th Leg., In t?a fol:&:ng language:
-'Ml fnconnca allocated or Qtansferrcd to the Old Age Assistance Fad by R. B. Wo. 3, Acts of the 47th Le&lole- ture, Aagular Sesaslon, or other revenue lawa, for t&e purpbuc of provldlng and admlnlstarlng old-age asslatanca, la hereby appropriated for each of the fiscal year8 ending Augunt 31, 1942, and Ru~uat 31, 1943, to the State Eepnrt- mfnt of Fublle Welfare &or old age eB8IBtnnco paymcnt~ and for oalarlas, equipment, bupplla8, travel, lanntenance expenses nectmrary’ In the axtanslon 6ald en4 cont*ant old-age a88Istance.
This clearly conetituter, an approprlatlon for "each of the fiscal yearns, and cannot be construtd a8 bclng "each of the fiscal yteruE), and cannot be conzstrued am balng an approprlatlon on a-monthly bfdn. H. B. 8 and 5. 8. 499 prwldt for allocation the Old Age ii88iatanoe ?und of $1,~0,O0O.O0 each month, and the abow provl8ion of S. IS.. 423, aporopriat&s:all the aonIes 80 allocated for each of .tht two flacel yeara.
It follous from the foregoing anal&s that there may be expended from the Old hgt AssIat+%nCe Rxnd iwant month not only $1,75O,OOO.O0 ellocated to 8ald fund on t?ke flwt of said month, but In addltlon thereto, suoh.' uncxpendtd balnnae as there may bt in tht fund by virtue of expendlttwes &ur?ng preceding months of the flaoal year having been belo%% $1,750,0OO.00.
Turning nw to e comlderatinn of your tro questIon8. i&r first question Is ansuered In tht negatlvet i. a., we believe that you shWJl6 not aonslder the cash balance at the close of one month (that.Ia, unexpended portlen of tht . 8mounttobetransferredtrortJaealeaawm atthc first of each month. T&t amount to be tran8rerred rrw the ClaaXWoe fund on the tint month IO the dlfftrenca *6 Hon. oeorge II. sheppma, pcy 5
between $l,~O,OOO.OO sncl the amount which has been psld into the old age aaslstanct rclnd fma %tkcc laan- aurlng the! wc- cedin& ma&h pluwany balance carried over because of an cxcee8 wer 4 1,75O,O#.OG, which may have been pa!d lnto the fund by virtut of other laws in prior ronths.
Ut ahmrtr your second question In the af?irmatlvt; i. t., you say Issue during any one uonth warrantc for the payawnt of old a@ ao8lsrance and ebninlstratlon combined totaling 180x-t than $l,?~,O~.OG, If there ls an uncxpcrulcd balanct in the fund f%xu prior months to cover ruch excts8. The canctllcd warrant credit ta uhlch you refer may be one sources oi such uncxpcnded balance of f’unda prtvlou~ly allocatrd.
Yours very truly BY Walter 3. Koch .48S iatant.
bWCrmm:ba
- hPFRWl?D JCL 3, 1042
Oerald C. ti -’