Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

QZM‘D 0. MANN .,,o(I* . . . . “‘“AL

Hon. Roy Lovanthal, Chainnan,

Livestock Sanitary Comrllesion

i:'. T. !Ya<goner Suilding

Fort Sorth, Terns

Dear Sir:

Oplnlon 30. C-1272

ubeequent. quarter; (a) t, with oonsmt of Board, ted.ror one Item for to be incurred by the ty of departaent to use xgenditnres for partlou- efinite aums are appro- Co:zmXsAon ahen attending meetings called by the Chairnan in towns or titles in Texas at a point where a aommittee or aonrerence or representatfve stookmen neat in,..called regular or annual session?w "QPSTION # 2. Will it be psnissibie for members and representatives of this Department to be reimburser? from the regultir appropriation for *2 Ron. Roy Loventbal, Page 8

traveling expenses allotted this Department for expenses in attending national or state meeting8 of livestook sanitary otfiolals or this State?" at point8 outalde

In the General Rldec to the General Appropriation Bill. under the heading *Traveling Expen~~es,~ we find the last paragraph of Section (0) prwi.dlng:

*No ameye herela l pljropriated shall ever be apen to pay the traveling expense6 of any state sp~loy4e to any type 0r aonrentlon withLn this State of: without the state.W rubaivlslon (I) uuae the ea&e herding or *T'ravel- iag Exp8M68," provide8 68, follb*rsr

"ExOIBpt a8 OthOZViM 8pOOifi4$ally SXSmpm, the prOVi8lon8 of thi8 Aot shall al80 apply to depart- ment heads and Aember of Omml8alons." pee rind no pr0718ion or the appro$riatlon bin exeJ&pting the depart%ent head8 or m%rtber8 ot the tirestook Saaftary Comalesion rmi the prorlelon8 or the general rider above rererred i to.

Xlth respeot to your QUeStiOn Ho. 1, you are ad- vi8ed that, ln,our opinion, Jm%nhta Or your depemtaent and themor my not be rsiilabaned Out 0i tmv0ling -p10ye88 ia0UFX.d iti attending ai@etim@ galled eXPelWe rOr eX@?MO8 by the Chairman in town8 or oities in Texas at a point where a ooamlttee or uonrerenoe or repreoeotetive stook6mn+iuu8t in oalled regular or annaal sesrloa, ir the prime purpose or oelling 8UCh meetlag at aueh polat e.nd tiscl be to emable the membera end e5ployees of the dttprartmmt to attend auoh conv,ention or meeting of repreren~tive 8tooknmns.at State expense.

In anmerlng your rlnt a8 will a8 ycmr l koond QW8t&i@ we attribute to the laPI4 *ooxw@ntlon~ e8 u8ed in -the pro&on of the rider quokd above, fts t&al and aomon &m&g, 'de Pound in iYobster*8 lfew Int+matlomL Diotionary, to-wit, .-a body or ae8enl~ly or ~l'80n8 meeting for 8OW cm- mon purpolle.- It 8eem8 to w that ao broader prohibition might have been made by the Legislature than the phrase "any type or conver!tIon within the state or without the: Etat4.v

In answer to ycur second question, you &re ad- vised thnt It till not be ~~nnissible f.or nilembers and re- presentatlves or your department to be reimbursed rrom the reguler appropriation ror tmveling expensea allotted your department, for expenses incurred in attooding national or state neetings of lIvc.rtock sanitary OrriOial8 et points outside of this Stte. Such meetings are clearly laoluded in the phmre "any type of a.onvention." However advisable It may sees to be tbat,menbere from your department attend the annual meeting or the Kational Livestock Assoolation, or meetings of other organization8 of a sinllar ohamater, It is apparent that the Leglslnture hss determined that suoh ooniamnces or conventions shell not ba attended by State officials at the State's expense.

With the wisdom or auoh a provieion, this dopax%- m8nt has nothing to do. The prohibition above quoted ir alear end gxplioit, and there 18 no roam for conqtructlon.

Tour third quistion reads as tollowet~ "~UKTIOIP $5. WI11 It be permissible ror this Department to expend money that aoorued In a prr- vious quarter of the tIsaal.year for salarier or any other it,em provided the total expenditure dO48 not eroead~ th$total smount allotted It on any of Ito itear;'?'+..'

Your fourth question reada as tollowo: "C$JE:YTlON $4, Will It be parmie8fble for thi8 Departnent, with the aonsent or the Governor, Attorney General and State Treasurer, to transfer en approprfetlon Sor any item to the oredit of another item where In the opinion of this Depart- ment the expenditure will prow more benefloial to our work?”

Your rlrth questAon road8 a8 followa: ~. “r,Uv’,TJFW #5. Kill it be permisrible to

pay our County Supervisors the maximum salary of $115.00 per month and the local inepectore $lOO.OO,or less per month with the underatand- ing that re employ some 5 or 8 employee6 in to the 55 a8 outlined in the appro- dditi033 priation bill?" If we understand correatly your third, fourth and fifth questions, they all involve, substantially, this one inquiry: If, by eooaozioel and effPelent manegement, your department effects a saving, by spending less for a partioular item than the amount provided In the appropriation bill, may that saving-, if neoessery, be used by your Department to de- fray other proper expenses or th8 Pepertient ror whiah an lnsufrloient amount is available by nay of a@propriatim.

It is quite oletr that sooh saving cannot be used for ths: purpose of supplementing the amount provided by the Legislature for travelin.& expenses for your department, In any event. Subdivisions (a) of the subject *traveling expenaesn in the general.rl.der to the general appropriation bill provides as hollows:

"Xt la provided that no expenditure ehall be made for traveling expenses by any departmant or this state in esoess of the amount of money iteml&ed herein for said purpose. This provision ehall be applioable whether the item for traveling expenses is to be paid out 0r the appropriet1on Boom the General Fund, from fees, receipts or epecial funds collected by vlrtus of certain law0 of this State or rrom other funds (eroluslve of Federel Funds available for uee by a departmrnt." The appropriation for your department la made from the Oeneral Fund. In order to determine whether.any 6aVings effeoted by you msy be tised to defray the costs of other eer- vioels or expenses of your aepartment, other than traveling. erp0nae3, it is necessary to examine,tbe appropriation bill at solfte length. Seotion 1 thereof reed8 as follOwS:

*That the eeveml suma of money herein speoified or EO muot'thereof ^[88] mw be nCO0s- aery, me hereby appropriated out Of any moneTa *5 Ron. Roy Loventhal, Paye 5.

in the State Traaaury not otherwise appropriated, . .."

.Under the headin~g "Salary and Other Provi8lon8,~ in the General Rider to the General Approprjation Bill, we rind the r0110wi~::

"(a) All annual salaries shall be paid in twelve equal monthly $nstallnenti; unless othar- wise provided herein.

(b) The appropriations herain provided era to bo construed as the maxlmum f~ums to be eppro- priated to and for the several purpo8es named herein, and the amount8 are intended to cover an6 ehell oover the entire oost of the respeotive item and the seme shall not be rupplijmmted rrora any other souroe: aqd, exoapt as ot;hamise provldad, ao other expenditures shall be madb, nor shallany othrr obligatlono be inourred by any department of this..

State, provided, however, that nothing heroin shall prevent any departmentheed from paying lese than the maximum amount set forth horeln for any aalarled poeition.”

Th8 ~limitatlon of paymdnt# clause of ths General Rider to the General Appropriation Bill provides in part a8 r0n0w6 2

%xospt as otherwise protided, whenever, by virtue or the provisions of this Aot, item8 are to be paid out or fees, receipts, apeoial runds or out of other tunds available iOr use by a depart- ment, It Is the intention or the' Legtsleture to ~llmlt~expendlturss out- of said fees, reoelpts, speoxsl funds or other available fund8 to the pur- pose8 and in the amounts itemized herein, and it is so provided.. Ir, however, the amount or the fees, reoelpts, special or other available fUUds herein referred to are pore than ouffioient to pay the ltwx harein designated to be paid therefrcuv, the department to which the said rem, receipts, speoial iunda or other available fund6 are aPPr* prleted may, if neoeesary to EdeqUate~y WeriO?@ the fWiOtiOn8 or said department, ua8 eny portion of said surplus rees, r0oelPta, apeolal funds 0r other available funds; . ..*

Thie clause continues by requiring that, berora

doing 80, the head of such department shall obtain the ap proval of the Board, co:.sletlng of the Governor, the Attor- ney General and the State Treaeurer, $9 the expenditure of such *aurpl~aw fees, raoeipta, speoial funds or other available funds.

This is the only portion of the appropriation bill which mleht In any mahner authorize the use of a our- plus created by a saving in then smount expended for a particular purpose for whloh a apscliled fund is made available by appropriation. Sin00 the appropriation8 ror your department are made out of the General Nnd,, It lr apparent that they do not fall wlthln the oategofy of Fee,@, reoelpts, or rpeolal funds. It remalne, therefore, to determine whether the Legislature, in the limitation.of payments. alause, intended the term *other avdilable~fundr* to inolude amounts appropriated from the.General Fund..

By rererenoe to then rlrst seotlon 0r the appro- priation bill, quoted above, it 1s~ to be noted that ths Legislature has not, In respeot to Items appropriated out or the Geaeral Fund, appropriated a dsrinite sum of money to be available at all events, but has appropriated only so muah as may be neoe.saary to acoomplirrh the dedred purpose, with a marlmum amount rlxed for that partloular purpose. And'ln rererriug agaln:.to subdlvlsion (a) or the portion of the General Rider relating to traveling expensee, it ~111 be observed that tke Lo fslature in the second sentenoe thereor has reaognlze three type8 of appropriations: (1) from the General Fund, (8)' from fees, reoeipta or speoial funds oolleoted by virtue of certain laws of this State, and (3) from other fund6 available for use by a department.

It dfd not here treat *other available funds= as~inoludlng funds made available by appropriations frcnn the General Fund, but found it neoeseary to mention apprOL priatlone rram the General Fund spsolfloally. Llkewi8e, under the heedlne, "Salary Payments* in the General Rider, we find the appropriations from the General Fund se* up as a separate and dlstlnct olasslflaation, when the Legle- lature states:

*Eaoh department head shall number ooneeou- tlvely the ealafled~pqsitlons in hla department *7 lion. Roy Loventhal, Page 9

for whloh an appropriation is made herein (either out of the General Revenue Fund, fees, reoeipts, speoial funds or out of other funds available ror use by said department) . . .” Sims the Legislature glaoed this' limited ooti- struotlon upon the term vothar avellable funds' in them saotions of the General Bider, we must presume that it Intended the same lidted meaning to be esorlbsd to tlls term when it used it in the nLlmiitatlon of RaynenQP clause of the ~mms rider.

Furthax%ore, appl- the rule of statutory oonstmotlon that where general words follow the enumora- tlon of speolrio items, the getiewl words ars to be oon- &rued as lnolgding only things of the same rlafq as those sRoolfloally mentioned, the tens uother,available funds*, as used In the limitation Of paymsnts olause, is to be oonatruad as inoluding oaly those funds dedioated OT devoted by statute.to ths utaa of a partioular dapartmant of the State'Gararmnent.

For thssu reasons, we answar your third end fourth questions in the nogativs.

In enswer to your fifth quectlon, you are advised

that the appropriation bill speoifioally pennits you t0 pay less thati the maximum amount set forth in your appTO- priation ror any salaried positloll, but the earing whioh you may thus erreot will not be available for your US@ In employing and payins other amployaas fn addition to those itemized in the appropriation’ bill.

Yours vsry truly ATTORXEY Gl5SfUL OF TEXAS BY R. E. Falrohlld Aseiatant RRF:.pbp

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF T~;XAS