Your request for the opinlon.of~thls departmetit o&the question of whether or not'the $50.00 .paid in by manufadturers of h&iidllghting equipment for each headlight device submitted for approval Is appropriated for the use and beriefit of the University of Texas in testing the headlight equipment has been received.

As you point out in'youti letter of July 8, this find ccliue lntb 6xistence Under an act ijf the Leglelatu*e'~in 1925 and is codified in Vernon's Annotated Ttixas Statutes iih legts- latfon under Article 6701, SectLon 5 reading as follows: _.

'Any person; fflrm or 'dotiporation may submft to the State Highway Cotilssion a lens; reflector or headlight control device intended to make a tieadllght comply vith the provlsions of this Act, and make application that the same be tested as to conformXt:tg with the requirements of this Act. Upon such'~appl.lcation being made, the State Hlgh- way Commlsslon shall, upon notice to the applicant, submit such lens, reflector or headlight control device to the testing agency as herein designated with the request that such device be tested as tb conformity with the requirements of this Act. Each such applicant shall, upon the filing of his appli- cation, pay to the State Highway Coimnission a fee of fifty dollars. All such fees shall be paid by th8 State Highway Commission into the State Trea- sury, and they shall be deposited In a fund to be known as the Highway Light Test Fund, and the State Treasurer shall keep such fund separate. The mon- eys in such fund; or so much of them as may be necessary, shall be used to meet the expense of *2 Hon. Geo. H. Sheppard, page 2 O-1099

the tests as herein provided, and for such use they are hereby~appropriated, and the balance thereof, If any, shall be paid into the State High- way Fund. Moneys in the Highway Light Test Fund shall' be spent under the directlon of the State Highway Commlsslon, and may be spent only to de- fray the expenses of testing by the testing agency herein provided for."

This Section Constitutes a valid appropriation, but of course, it was effective for two years only.'~ Constitution of Texas, Art. VIII, Section 6. Atkins vs. State Highway Department, 201 S.W. 226.

Your letter states that the question arises as to whether the general approprlat1on appropriating money for th8~ HIghway Department also makes a specific appropriation fdr'the use of this Highway Light Text Fund for the Us.8.Of-the Unlver- sity~ of T8XaS. In an opfnlon dated May 3, 1938', to-.Hon. Julian Montgomery, State HIghway Department, Assistant Atto@ ney Gen8ralW.B'. Pope held'that the duty of supervlslng 'and approving lenses-and reflectors under.ArtLcle 6701 had b-88i---- ~traiisferredtothe Department of Public Safety atthe~t%me'th4t department vas'created by act."of the Legislamre. Upon inv-es- tigationof-the departmental appropriations mad8 by tti8&5th LegIsIature; we fir&that. non epeclfic~~appro'prlation 6ipp6arsm lh shy bill for th8 use of-this' Highway LLight~ Test Fund.-- It Is ther8forethe opinfon of~'thF‘s: department that the mdney paId into-this find- isnot now appropriated for ~tb8 use of the University of Texas In testing the headlight equipment.

Yours very truly ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEKAS By s/Ross Carlton Ross Carlton Assistant RC:jm:wc

APPROVED J-t% 26, 1939

s/W. F. Moore

FIRST ASSISTANT

ATTORREY GERERAL

Approved Opinion Committee By s/TDR Chairman