Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

Bon. George 8. Cox, IL D.

State $salth Orrioer

Au&tin, Texa 8

Dear Sir:

Realth and s

d revenue stampa. ust we oolleotsd 0, registrations a now raised the mai use this $5,500.00 e of facts, you ask the opinion of this tollowlng questions: 8. Whether you can opand th& $54,000.00 as appropriat- ed by ths Lsgiolature ror the present ilsoal year without be- ing oheoked by the Comptroller rrom day to day and month to month to determine ii the earnings of the Bedding Dlrielon equal its,expenditures.

160 BOIL &Ol?gO iY. COX, F&&e 2

3. Xbether, if it be determined that the 35,500.OO

is not available under the appropriation for the present

fiacpl year, that sum will revert to the Goneral Revenue

Sund or ~111 be bald In the General Revenue i‘und to the

oredit of the Bedding plvision subject to being appropriated

at a later date.

The pertinent provisions of Senate Bill 200, Aat. of

the 46th Legislature, Eegular Sesei’.n, are as follows: t

Yiection a. Proceeds placed in General Fund: *All moneys obtained from the sale of stamps, foes and other moneys aolleated in the admlnistra-

tion of this act shall be payable to the department,

and when collected shall thereafter be transmitted

to the State Treasury and be pleaod in the General

Zuund and be appropriated out In such anount that

zay- be deemed neoessary by the Lc::islature. In

the administration cf this enactmeat the regular

departmental appropriation 5511 will be adopted.

“Sea. Sa, There is hereby appropriated inme- out of .the general fund of the State diately

TrOaStUy not otheralse appropriated a sum Or purposes and protisions

$lO,OOO.OO to aarry out of this act ror the remainder of the fiscal year

ending Au&ust 31, 1939, such funds to be disbursed

by order or the state Bealth Offiaer and the

Treasurer of this state.

Vet. 8b. The several sums of money hsrein or so muah thereof ae may be necessary, sgeoified

are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the

State Treasury not otherxlse appropriated to carry

out the purposee and provisions of this act for

the two year period be&inning September 1, 1939, (Tiere r0ii0w8 an and ending August 31, 1941: . ..*

itemized appropriation for the use of the department,

totaling for the fiscal year ending August Zl, 1940,

the sum or Q34,400.00, and for the fiaoal year end- SUlc 0r $28,350.00). ing August 31, 1941, the total

*Sec. PC. The expenditure 0r any money8 under this act shall never exceed the amount of money obtained from the colleation of money required by

any rs2, permit, lloenss or re;iatration required

by the provialonz of t:,ia act.”

Bon. George W. Cox, ?age 3.

As held in our opinion O-1311, it TRIS contemplated

by the Legislature that, to inaugurate the SovcrnmcntaI

scrvloc ?rovidcd by Senate Bill 200, there should be made

avallnblc for lm~~edlate use by your department, extending

t0 the end Of the .IisOal year,August 31, 1939, the SUBI or

I10,000. ThCr8aftC& lt was contemplated that the dcpart-

ment should be self-supporting, and that the amount or its

expenditures should not exceed the amount of lta rcoclpts.

It hollows, for the reasons stated ln opinion O-1311, that it Was not intended that the expenditure of the #IG,GGG original appropriation should be controlled by the reoelpts

oollacted by the Bedding Dlvlslon. The service ncocasarlIy

oould not be inaugurated without cxpcndlturcs being made

prior to the aollcotlon of any receipts by the department,

and to apply Section 80 to the $10,000 appropriation,

thcrctorc, would be to place a construction upon the Act

that would prevent the administration of the not and dcreat the leglslatlve intent.

It will be observed that the Act does not create a

spcoial “bedding” fund, but provides that the rcoclpts

or the department shall be placed in the Gcncrsl Fund. It

1s intended and provided, by the Legislature, that the after August 31 1939,

cxpcndlturcc of the Bedding Dlvielon, shall not exceed tbe receipts oollected in administer ng i

the Aot, and, of’ course, that no amount may be expended by the Bedding Division in cxoess or the maximum fixed by

the Legislature ln the appropriations oontalned in the Act.

The amount of the receipts nnder the Aot~ 1s to be detennlned the inauguration of the division, and not from the date from when .lta ;lO,OOO appropriation expired.

The question 1s not one of availability of the reoclpts or the department prior to August 31, 1939, for expenditure, but of their availability as a measuring stfok to determine how much of the money appropriated for the use of the Bedding Division may be expended by it. There 1s nothing in the

Act requiring that only the recclpts of the division after

Au&ust 31, 1939, may be used to,measure the avallablllty

of appropriated funds ror expenditures, and a reasonable

interpretation of the Aot oompcla the oonclualon that it

was not thus lntendcd by the Legislature.

In response to your second question, you are advlscd

that the limitation placed by the Laeislaturc on CX-

pendlturc of appropriated funds by the Bedding Dlvlslon,

that such expendlturcs shall not exceed the rcoclPt3 of the *4 Hon. George X. Cox, Page 4.

dfrislon, of neoceafty rcqulrce that an acouratc ohcok or

the total rcoclpte of the dlvlsion, balanoed against its

total oxpcndlturca, be kept. It follows that'rro warrant zui~y be i8eUCd by the Comptroller against your approprlatlona unless your total. rsoelpts cxoeed your total expenditures

by the amount oi thc.~airant at the tlm its :ssuan&c la

rcqueetcd.

Yours very truly ATTOFCIEY C2::EFLIL OF TEXAE . , *cp;-Le/ BY B. W. Fairchild Aesietant FG7F:pbp

.,.