Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

August 15, 1957 Honorable James A, Giddfngs Opinion No. W&2%9 Acting Executive Dfrector Board for Texas State Hospi,- Re: Can the Comptroller approve tals and Special Schools payroi,lssubmitted by the Box S, Capitol Station Board for ‘TexasState Hos- AIrstin,Texas pftals and Spe&al Schools which include salaries for ‘lteachers~~% and related Dear Mr, Glddfngs : question, Your request for an Opfnfon, dated July 30s 1957$ states in substance that the budgets submftted by the various institutions under the jnrfsdfct:,onand control of yoo,ragency provide for the payment of teachers employed by said insti.tu- tions durir,gLb? ens,nfngbiennium from funcl?approprfated for tiedica:~ care and treatment, You further state that the Comp- troller of Public Accounts has rai.sedthe question as towtlsth~r ?he s,ppropri,ation. to said fnstituti,onsfor the ensuing Men,- ni~urn authorizes the employment and,payment af personne: wi,i-h the posl.tion,titl~e of “teachers”, You h,ave,accnrdfnglyD propounded for 011sconsidera- tiofl the f”ollowi,n.g ques,t%ons : ‘I,, 0 Can the ComptroXLer app;‘ovepayrolls sub-, mitted bljthn Boa,rd, for Texas State Hospftals and Special Se!?,o&l.s wnich ,Sncludesalaries fo:r “teacherslqY 2, If the answer to the above ques,tfonis in the affi,rsatlve,may ,thesalaries fourthe-9 aosi- tions be paid from the appropriations fur meiica’l care and treatment? ,Articlti 11 of Il;.~asr :;ill, Ns. ;.:yr:s .$c,ts ‘5,,th Legi,,sla.= Turk, Reqular Session, 1957$ page 915, so~~rnnrS,ates ,flindsto the B(~ar*d for Texas State Hospitals atidFr‘:ti;,i;. ~3hnt&s a,nd ti?e respective Institutions under Its jurisalctlon and control, and Section 2b (1) of said Article reads In part as fol”,ows: . -- -- - Honorable James A, Gfddfngs, page 2 (W-2299 "SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO ALL HOSPITALS, HOMES, SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND AGENCIES OR OFFICES IN ARTICLE II "See. 2. Salary provfsfons, a, All annual salaries shall be paid in 12 equal monthly %n- stallments except as otherwise prov%ded herefn, "b, Salary rates, (1) The Board for Texas Hospitals and Specfal Schools may employ personnel fn hosp%tals and fnstftutions only w%th%n the position titles shown and at an annual salary rate not to exceed those speefffed below! except for teachers, temporary labor, and certlf%ed special- fsts as prov%ded for %n thfs Article: (Emphas%s added) II 0 0 0II "Teacher" %s not lfsted as an author%zed posftion tftle, It fs noted that the only reference to "teachers" in the foregofng sectron %s contained %n the underl%ned portfons thereof, However, subsectfon (3)d which follows, states: 'sd 0 Each classroom teacher or teacher of exceptional children fn each State School or Home specified in this Artfcle shall receive as a m%ni- mum salary the classroom or exceptional teacher#s monthly salary rate spec%f%ed in S.B, No. 116 Acts of the 51.stLeg%slature, 1949, as amended, The governing board of each such State School or Home may recommend salary rates at amounts that wfll not exceed the salar%es for Mke posftions paid in the publfc schools fn the city in which such State School or Home fs located, "However3 such recommended salary rates in excess of the m%nimum amounts speeffied in S,B, 116, as amended, and the salary rates of princi- pals p supervfsors, and coaches in the specfal schools and homes specified in this Article, may not be paid wfthout the advance wrftten approval of the Governor after obtaining the advfce of the Leg%slat%ve Budget Board; but such approved rates shall never exceed the rates of pay for lfke posi- tfons pafd in the public schools of the city in whfch the State School or home fs located," Honorable James A. Gfddfngs, Page 3 (WW-229) Article II of House Bill 133e page 917, also con- tains a reserve appropriation for special school teachers’ salaries “to implement any Increase in pay for school person- nel granted by the 55th Legislature by amendment to S.B. 116, as amended”0 Specfffed sums? for the foregoing purpose, are appropriated to various schools and fnstitutfons under the control of the Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools, At the outset we are confronted by the fact that “teachers” are not Ii--tedas one of the authorized position Mtles in Section 2 b (1) of Article II0 Admittedly, the lan- guage of said Section, when viewed alone, is sufficient to exclude the employment of personnel with posi~tiontitles other than those specified therein, However, in resolving the an- swer to the first question propounded we are of the opinion that our attention must be focused upon all the pertinent pro- visions of Article II of House Bill 133 and not upon said Section alone, Only by so doing can the intention of the Leg- islature be reasonably ascertained and effectuated, The rule of construction by which we are guided En such cases is aptly stated by 39 Tex.Jur. 168, in the following terms : II 0 0 0 when it fs necessary to construe an Act in order to determine its proper meanfng, it is settled by a host of decfsions that the court should first endeavor to ascertain the Pegfsla- tive intent, from a general view of the whole en- actment, Such intent having been ascertained, the court will then seek to construe the statute so as to gfve effect to the purpose of the legislature, as ,tothe whole and each material part of the law, even though this may Involve a departure from the strict letter of the law as written by the legis- lature,” The Supreme Gourt of Texas in the case of Wood v. State ex rel Lee, 126 S.W.2d 4, stated the rule as follows: “It is the settled law that statutes shqyT’?d be construed so as to carry out the legislative intent, and when $tichfr5ent is once ascertained, ft should be gfven effect, even though the literal meaning of the words used therein is not fcllowed. Also, statutes should never be given a construc- tion that leads to uncertainty, fnjustice or con- fusion if it is possible to construe them other- wise, .,D o1v Honorable James A0 Giddings, Page 4 (W-229) Viewing the provisions of Article II of House Bill 133 in their entirety, we think that the Legislature has manf- fested a clear intent that personnel should be employed by the Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools in the position title of teachers. To hold otherwise would be .to ignore the above cited provisions of said Article which, among other things9 appropriates a reserve fund for teacher pay increases and sets forth the formula to be followed by the Board in set- ting ,thesalaries for teachers, You are accordingly advised that in our opinion the Comptroller of Public Accounts is authorized to approve pay- rolls submitted by the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools which include salaries for “teacherswO It is also our opinion that said salaries may be paid from the appropriations for medical care and treatment made to the various schools and institutions under the jurisdiction of said Board, The items covering appropriations for medical care and treatment are generally phrased as follows: l’MedfcalTreatment Salaries and Wages (non- transferable) including the following series: medical, laboratory, x-ray, caseworker, rehabili- tation, medical records, psychology, pharmacy, chaplain, nursing and attendants (Includes profes- slonal fees and services)” (Emphasfs added) The instructional services and educational guidance afforded by the teachers is clearly an integral part of the rehabilitat~ionprogram for each patient or student, For thi,s ‘eason we believe that “teachers” are properly a part of the -ehabflitation series, SUMMARY The Comptroller of Public Accounts is au- thorfzed to approve payrolls submitted by the Board for Texas Statt H;,,j.,