This will 8olmOwlsdge reoeipt of your letter requesting an opinion of this Department, frcm whioh we quote;

"The State Departmentof Education lti undertak- ing a progran,Of developing an elementaryooume of et&y. Ye have invited all the eohool teaohera of the State to'partiolpate. .

*Thema%&albaa beengetheredhera in the State Superlntendent'e offloe~and hit PCKI must be campiled inbulletlnfozmforuee inthepubllo eohoole. Thme orfour outatmding~leadera inour- rloalmumaking in the a~lemmtary field have a~re'ed toaeeietua iuooordinstlngthl13materlalifwe oan~paythelr~.tra~ellng expewe to andfmt~Au,etin, andl&elr~alnt.enanoe whllshem. zheywouldbe required to etay here about three or four weeks. '71e have euifiolent funde In our travelaooount to take oare of thie if it is your opinion that this oanbedone. They will not be paid any salary, and we feelthat:we ehould pay their tra~eland maintan- enoe if we can legally do 80.

Will you pleaee give UB your opinion on thla at your earliest oomenlenoe."

Honorable L. A. Woods - page 2 (o-7257)

It is the opinion of this Dapartient that the expenditures mentioned by you may not be pald by the State.

It is fundamental law, of oouree, that no moneys may be paid frcm the State Treasury except upon a specific appropriation made by the Iegialature .

There ia in the approprlatlon for the State Department of Education for the current biennium Item 26, Trmeling Expense - $10,750.00 per mum. The purpose for which that Item of appropriation ia made ie, of oouree, to pay the traveling expense of employees and representatives of the Department. This could not possibly be construed to Include the travel expenses of persona, however worthy and however helpful, who were not members or employees of the Department.

This rulln~ is In line with the ruling made by this Deparbnent In Opinion No. 0~60.56, addressed to Honorable Royal1 R. Watkins, President, State Board of Education of Texas (copy of which we hand you herewith) wherein we aaid:

‘Within the scope of the foregoing statutory proviaiona, it is obvious that no authority, either express or implied, exists for defraying expenses of such Special or Standardization Committee referred to in your ocmununloatlon. Neither have we discovered any other atatute which authorizes such expenses. Tne functions of such oaamnittee are provided for by eiist- lng law. Such funotions are to be exercised by the Textbook Ccwilttee, created by the State Board of Edu- cation as required by Art. 2675b-5(f), V.A.C.S., the members of which shall receive the ccmpenaation as therein provided.

"Of oourae, It is permiaeible for the State Board of Education to seek advice and counsel from.~.

other murces, awh ae teichere, eupervlsore, school admlniatrators, and the State Superintendent of Pub- 110 Instruction, who Is BX officio Secretary of said Board. However, in the abeence of statutory authority, such advice and oounselmuet be furnished, if at all, without expense to the State."

APPROVED Jw 10 1946 Very truly yours /e/ Ocle Speer Al%XU4EYGEXER&OFTEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS /k3/ Ocle Speer BY APPROVED Ocie Speer OPINION Assistant co- OS 4lR: tiw BY h/BwB Chal-