April 16, 1958
Honorable Price Daniel Opinion No. WW- 417.
Qovernor of Texas
Capi to1 Station Re: Are the monies appropriated
Austin, Texas under Senate Bill 471, Acts,
55th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1957, Chapter 502,
page 1465, for the Texas
Traffic Safety Council
available for use of the
Council, despite ,the fact
that the bill was not sub-
mitted to the Comptroller
Dear Covernor Daniel: for certification?
We have received your letter of April 4, in which
you state the Legislature passed Senate Bill 471, Acts 55th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1957, Chapter 502, page 1465,
giving the Texas Traffic Safety Council the following author-
ity:
"Sec. 7. The Texas Traffic Safety
Council may accept gifts, grants, or donations
of money, or of property, from private sources
to effectuate the purpose of thfs Aot. Any and
all funda so donated shall be placed fn the
State Treasury in a special fund called the
Traffic Safety Fund and shall be expended in
the same manner as other State monies are ex-
pended, upon warrants drawn by the Comptroller
upon the order of the Councfl. Such monies
are hereby appropriated for the purpose of
carrying out this Act."
You further state that the Comptroller has notified
the Council that In a8 tiuchas Senate Bill 471 was not passed
to him for certiffcation, that none of the funds received as
donations and deposited in the State Treasury is appropriated
for this biennium.
Honorable Prloe Daniel, Page 2 (WW-417).
You ask our opinion on two questions, substantially
as follows:
1. Is It necessary that a bill containing
an appropriation of only this type be passed to
the Comptroller for his certification?
2. If the answer is "NO", then is the Texas
Traffic Safety Counoil authorized to expend any
donated funds deposited In the Treasury during
this biennium?
It is clear that the Legislature appropriated no
money to such fund or for such purposes8 except to the extent
that funds were available therein from specific donations.
If there are no donations, nothing Is appropriated. If there
are donations, that and no more is appropriated.
Section 49a of Article III of the Constitution of
Texas reads in part as follows:
1,
. e . Prom and after January 1, 1945,
save in the case of emergency and imperative public
necessity and with a four-fifths vote of the total
membership of each house, no appropriation in excess
of the cash and anticipated revenue of the funds
from which such appropriation is to be made shall
be valid. From and after January 1, 1945, no bill
containing an appropriation shall be considered as
passed or be sent to the Qovernor for consideration
until and unless the Comptroller of Public Aacounts
endorses his certifioate thereon, showing that the
amount appropriated is within the amount estimated
to be available in the affected funds. . ~ ."
If Senate Bill 471 had been submitted to the Comp-
troller for certification, the only action he could have taken
would have been to certify that funds for paying this approp-
riation would be available. In keeping with the import of the
holding of this Department in Opinion No. ~~-416 and author-
ities therein cited, we wish to advise you that, In our opinion,
Senate Bill 471, appropriating to the Texas Traffic Safety
Council accepted contributions and donations deposited in the
special fund, known as the Traffic Safety Fund, for the speci-
fied purposes, is not such an appropriation bill requiring
certification by the Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Honorable Price Daniel, Page 3 (WW-417).
_ it
In answer to your questions, _ Is not
. necessary
. that
a bill containing an appropriation of Only thls type De paSSed
to the Comptroller for his certification, and the Texas Traffic
Safety Council is authorized to expend any such donated funds
deposited in the State Treasury during this biennium.
SUMMARY
The funds received by the Texas Traffic
Safety Council in the form of donations
and aontrlbutlons, which were appropri-
ated under Senate Bill 471, are available
to the Texas Traffic Safety Council,
despite the fact that Senate Bill 471
was not submitted to the Comptroller for
certification, such certiflaatlon not
being required of this type of approprl-
ation.
Very truly yours,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
j,l; ,
By 7.h;~.~J; [ i !t,, '/
',
Tom I. McFarling 'z
Assistant
TIH:wb:pf
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman
J. Mark McLaughlin
J. Arthur Sandlin
B. H. Tlmmins, Jr.
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Bg: W. V. Geppert.