Case Information
*1 The Attorney General of Texas July 5, 1982
MARK WHITE
Attorney General
Supreme Telex P. 0. Box 12546 [51214752501] Austin, Telecopier 9101674-1367 TX. 76711. Court Building 5121475.0266 [2546] Mr. Evans N. Wents Austin, Texas 78711 State Commission for the Blind Executive Director P. 0. Box 12866 Opinion No. ?w482 Re: Authority of Commission for the Blind to guarantee loan repayments Dear Mr. Wents: 1607 Main St., Suite 1400 Dallas. TX. 75201.4709 The Sixty-seventh Legislature enacted section 91.0301 of the 2141742.6944 Human Resources Code, which provides as follows: 4624 Alberta Ave., Suite 160 (a) The [C]ommission [for the Blind] may El Paso, TX. 79905.2793 establish a program to make loans to finance the 9151533.3464 purchase of technological aids for visually
handicapped persons. Interest on the loans may not exceed 10 percent a year. 1220 Dallas Ave.. Suite 202 Houston, TX. 77002-6966 7131650-0666 (b) The director may promulgate rules to
administer the loan program.
606 Broadway. Suite 312 Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 126, at 317. Lubbock, TX. 79401.3479 6061747-5236
You state as follows: 4309 N. Tenth, Suite S It has been suggested that the commission McAllen, TX. 76501-1685 would be more prudent and achieve better results 5121662.4547
by arranging the specific loans through existing bank channels and acting as guarantor for the 200 Main Plaza. Suite 400 loans, it being understood that the exposure of San Antonio, TX. 76205.2797 the commission would be limited to the specific 5121225.4191 portion of its endowment funds restricted to such use. An Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer This suggestion has merit in that it does not
involve the commission in the direct management of a loan fund, and it works to establish the credit record or history of the borrowers in the commercial market.
.i .
Mr. Evans N. Wentz - Page 2 (kg+482)
You ask:
Does the commission need specific legislative authority to enter into a program calling for it to guarantee loan repayments, using a portion of its endowments as collateral?
Administrative agencies have only those powers expressly granted by statute or necessarily implied therein. Stauffer v. City of San Antonio, 344 S.W.2d 158 (Tex. 1961); State v. Jackson, 376 S.W.2d 341 (Tex. 1964). If applicable statutes do not grant an agency the power to do a particular thing, then the agency has no such power. Nueces County Water Control and Improvement District No. 3 v. Texas Water Rights Commission, 481 S.W.2d 924 (Tex. Civ. App. - Austin 1972, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Martinez v. Texas Employment Commission, 570 S.W.Zd 28 (Tex. Civ. App. - Corpus Christ1 1978, no writ).
Section 91.0301 clearly does not expressly authorize the loan program you describe. The remaining question is whether it impliedly authorizes such a program. We answer in the negative. In our opinion, the power to establish a loan program through bank channels, with the cosuaission acting as guarantor on the loans and using a portion of its endowments as collateral, simply cannot be said to be reasonably implied in a statute which merely authorizes the commission to establish and operate a loan program itself. If nothing else, the fact that the loan program would be administered by banks, rather than by the commission, is, in our opinion, sufficient to enable us to conclude that the proposed program is too different from the program contemplated by section 91.0301 to be permissible under that section.
The proposed loan program may be one which the legislature would authorize if it considered the matter. We must take statutes as we find them. however. and we cannot read into them more than their words will clearly sanction and fairly sustain. Texas Highway Commission v. El Paso Building and Construction Trades Council, 234 S.W.2d 857 (Tex. 1950); Railroad Conrmission of Texas v. Miller, 434 S.W.Zd 670 (Tex. 1968). We therefore conclude that express or implied authority for the loan program you describe is necessary (assuming, of course: that such authority is provided in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Constitution), and that section 91.0301 of the Human Resources Code does not furnish such authority. You do not ask and we do not address any question relating to the constitutionality of section 91.0301.
SUMMARY Section 91.0301 of the Human Resources Code does not authorize the Commission for the Blind to *3 Mr. Evans N. Wents - Page 3 (MW-482)
establish, through existing bank channels, a program to make loans to finance the purchase of technological aids to visually handicapped persons, with the commission acting as guarantor on the loans and using a portion of its endowments as collateral. WHITE
MARK Attorney General of Texas JOHN W. FAINTER, JR.
First Assistant Attorney General
RICHARD E. GRAY III
Executive Assistant Attorney General
Prepared by Jon Bible
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Susan L. Garrison, Chairman
Jon Bible
Patricia Hinojosa
Jim Moellinger
Bruce Youngblood