Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN
Bon. be0. B. sheDP=‘& Comptrollel, of F'iblio-Aooounts
Austin, Texas
Dear sir:
opinion go. o-1672-A iie: Authorit? oi Llmltation of Payments Board to authorize expend.itures supplementing a apeolfic‘Uiem of:appro- priation. ~.., '..~ .\\ .I On IPovember 17,.1939,-&&irering your let&* of
ZTovember 10, 1939, this depmtment rendered Opinion ipo.
o-1672, vhereln it vss held-:th8t the Board of Limitation of Paymanta set up by the provlslon~of'3euate Bill 427, Acts of tha 46th fsgialature, uaa Mthout the jurladiotlon or authority to permlt t+uae of a-~.aurplua in a special fund for purposes vhieh a apeoifio“appropristlon has been made by the Legfaleture..in auah manner that tha amount. available that ~peoifloFyp~osp'~s definite&y asoertsiaable.. \
Since &m&ring t&t opinion, this department has, upon its ovn Initiative, undertakm re-exmalnatlon of the question inv5lved thweln, and &a, after careful study aud oonaldkr+lon ot the pk~blsm,,,.Feaohed the oomluafon that aiul~erroneou .
yein A
/The geieral rider appended to Senate Bill 427, Aota of thb 46th Laglslatulw, provides in part as Sollovar
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l~ncb) The's&opriations herein provided are to be o&tmied as the msximum sums to be appropriated to and fc&.the several purposes nazed herein, and the smounta are intended to cover and shall cover entire coat of the respective items, and the ssme ahsll not be supplementad from 8ny other source; and, except AS othervise provided, no other e~endltwoa ah&l be m&de, nor shall any other obligatlon~ be incurred by any department of this State, . . . *2 Hon. Geo. H- Sheppard, Page 2
"Llnitatlou of Payments. Except as othervia provided, whenever, by virtue of the provisions of this Act, Item are to be paid out of fees, rwceipta, special funds or out of other fuuda available for use by a depsrtaumt, it is the Intention of Legislature to lisit expenditures out of said fees, reoaipta, special funds or other available ~funds to the purposes and in the amotmts itemized herein, and it is aa provided. If, however, the amount of the feea, receipts, special or other avallable funds herein rafarred to are pore thau sufficient to pay the itema herein designated to be paid there- frost, the depsrtment to vhich the said fees, re- ceipts, special fuuda or other available Fonda am? sppropvlated nag, If neceaaarylto adequately perforu the functloua of said department, use any portiou of ,aaid surplus fees, receipts, special funds or other available funds; provided, hovever, thst before doing so, the hasd of.auoh department ahall under oath make.application jointly to the Governor, the Attorney Geneal and the State Treasurer aetttig forth in detsll the necessity for using such sur- plus fees, receipts, special fuuda or other avsilable Punds and lteatlalnj~ the purposes for vhich the aaue 'we .ta be used . . .
OUP reconsideration of th+a matter has convinoed us that the interpretstlon heretofore placed upon these tvo pro- visions by.the opinion referred to Is not such as is calculated to oury out the design and intent of the Legislature in emoting the paragraph styled '%imitstion of Payments." Ye believe thst in enrctiug the limitation of payments clause, the lagislsture had lnntl~~~thst if there ahouldbe anactusl surplus on hand In a special fund, and If the department to which the special fund is appropriated la able to demmatrate to the Limitation of Payments Board that the functions of said departaamt could not be adequately parfommd vlthout using a portion all of said surplus f&d, that the Llmltatlon of Payaants Bosrd might have authority , upon proper application, to authorize the use of a portion or all aaid fund for itemized purposes, even though the Legislature hadpmvid8d a definitely asaertainable amount of money by itemization for that specific purpose. In other vorda, we are of the opinion that the Leglalsture intended to conPer upon the Limitation of Payments Bosrd the authority to authorize addltlonal eqmU.l.- turea by way of supplementing an item for vhloh specific p-b- vision had been lEade by the Legislature , out of au actual surplus, upon the showing oP the neceaslty, the Legislature apparently realizing that situations night conceivably arise vhereln its *3 Hon. Oeo. B. Sheppard, Page 3
estimate of the amount necessary for a particular purpose In order to oercg out adequately the funotiona a department might be wholly lnsdequate that purpose.
It is therefore the opinion of this department that the Llmitatlon of Payments Board has authority and jurlsdlctlon to authorire expenditures out 0s au aatual surplus upon a showing 0s neo8aalt~ therefor, even though such expenditures may Operate to supplement an item for vhich a speelflo and definitely aaeer- talnable amount was provided by the Leg.lslature, and, therefore, our opinion Ho. 0-1672 la hereby overruled and withdrawn, and thla opinion la rendered in lieu thereoP.
Ye are not to be understood, however, as holding herein that the Limitation of'Payments Board has the authmftg to authorire the use of all a portion of a surlpus in a special fund aupplmentlng traveling expense item. Travellug expenses, being governed by a peculiar and special provlalon of the general rider appended to Senate Bill 427, Acts of the 46th Leglslstum, may not be supplemented in a&event, as held in our Conference Opinion BO. 3089.
Yours very truly AT!l'OR~OglllBRALOPTEXM B. W. Falrotklld Assistant .mp-
!:TTORITEY GENERAL OF TEXAS