Fourth Court of Appeals
San Antonio, Texas
DISSENTING OPINION
No. 04-13-00316-CV
BEXAR COUNTY TEXAS,
Appellant
v.
DEPUTY SHERIFF'S ASSOCIATION OF BEXAR
DEPUTY SHERIFF’S ASSOCIATION OF BEXAR COUNTY,
Appellee
From the 166th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2011-CI-14030
Honorable Martha B. Tanner, Judge Presiding
Dissenting Opinion by: Marialyn Barnard, Justice
Sitting: Catherine Stone, Chief Justice
Marialyn Barnard, Justice
Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
Delivered and Filed: March 19, 2014
In our original opinion, we held the trial court did not err in granting a declaratory judgment
in favor of appellee Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Bexar County (“the Association”). In that
judgment, the trial court determined appellant Bexar County Texas was statutorily authorized to
deduct payments that were designated as political action committee contributions from the
paychecks of Association members. After our opinion issued, Bexar County filed a motion for
rehearing. The majority has voted to deny the motion for rehearing. I respectfully dissent from
the decision to deny the motion for rehearing because I do not believe a voluntary individual
contribution to a political action committee (PAC) is equivalent to the “payment of membership
Dissenting Opinion 04-13-00316-CV
dues in a labor union or a bona fide employees association.” TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE ANN.
§ 155.001(a)(2) (West 2008).
Section 155.001(a) permits a county to deduct certain money from a county employee’s
wages or salary. However, a county’s authority is limited to deductions for specific purposes:
(a) The commissioners court, on the request of a county employee, may authorize
a payroll deduction to be made from the employee’s wages or salary for:
(1) payment to a credit union;
(2) payment of membership dues in a labor union or a bona fide employees
association;
(3) payment of fees for parking in a county-owned facility;
(4) payment to a charitable organization; or
(5) payment relating to an item not listed in this subsection if the
commissioners court determines that the payment serves a public purpose.
Id. § 155.001(a).
The question in this appeal is whether payment of membership dues to a labor union is
equivalent to donations to a political action committee. This determination requires us to construe
the statute.
The primary objective in construing any statute is to give effect to legislative intent.
Warner v. Glass, 135 S.W.3d 681, 683 (Tex. 2004). “[T]he truest manifestation of what legislators
intended is what lawmakers enacted, the literal text they voted on.” Alex Sheshunoff Mgmt. Servs.,
L.P. v. Johnson, 209 S.W.3d 644, 651 (Tex. 2006). Thus, we must begin with the plain and
common meaning of the statute’s words. Warner, 135 S.W.3d at 683; TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN.
§ 311.011(a) (West 2005). “If the meaning of the statutory language is unambiguous, we adopt
. . . the interpretation supported by the plain meaning of the provision’s words and terms.”
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Dissenting Opinion 04-13-00316-CV
Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Sys., Inc., 996 S.W.2d 864, 865 (Tex. 1999); see Johnson,
209 S.W.3d at 651-52.
Here, the statute unambiguously states a county “may authorize a payroll deduction to be
made from the employee’s wages or salary for . . . payment of membership dues in a labor union.”
TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 155.001(a)(2). Clearly, under the plain words of that statute
counties may only authorize deductions for labor union dues. The statute does not contemplate
deductions for contributions to political action committees, and obviously labor unions and
political action committees are not the same. That the county transfers both the membership dues
and the PAC contribution to the labor union is irrelevant — the statute speaks not in terms of
disbursement, but what the county may authorize initially. The statute does not contemplate where
the money may ultimately end up or how it is disbursed.
Accordingly, until the legislature enacts a statute or amends section 155.001 to permit a
county to authorize a payroll deduction from an employee’s wages for a political action committee
contribution, or the commissioners’ court determines that payments to political action committees
serve a public purpose, such contributions are not permitted. I believe this court should revisit its
opinion that interprets the term “membership dues” to also include not only labor union
membership dues, but an individual employee’s voluntary contributions to the Deputy Sheriff’s
Association of Bexar County’s Political Action Committee.
The legislature has clearly limited the scope under which a county may authorize a payroll
deduction to be made from an employee’s wages. See TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 155.001(a).
And, it is not for the courts to expand the plain meaning of the language “payment of membership
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Dissenting Opinion 04-13-00316-CV
dues” to include payments to political action committees. Id. Therefore, I dissent to the denial of
Bexar County’s motion for rehearing.
Marialyn Barnard, Justice
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