TIXEATI-ORNIWGENIWAL
OF TEXAS
July 20, 1956
Hon., Tom Raavley t Opinion l&t,. S-209
Secrrtary of State
Austin, Texas Rc: Payment of-travel expense
and per diem to a State em-
ployee in charge of the opera-
tion of IBM machines while
attehding a tratiing school in
Dear Sir: the operation of such machines.
In your letter of Ju&e 26, 1956, pou requestedan opinion
from this office based on the following set of facts:
“During July 23 through 27 of this year, the,I.B.I& Com-
pany will conduct a training school at its Dallas offices
to instruct operators of their accounting machine No.
402. This is the key rnakhihe in the tab room or .I.E.M
Section of this offike. &carries a large volume of our
work. Some of the jobb’performed with tts use tic?Iude’
posting franchise ledgers, running securities lidenses,
preparation of money sheets and deposit sheets, ‘running
notary commissions; preparation of‘ delinquent tax
notices and remittantie sIips, etc.
“This is a complicated machine and it is arranged to do
different jobs through the device of a control panel where
wiring connections are’changed. A complete knowledge
of the intricacies of the machine is necessary for proper
rewiringwhich enables the machine to perform different
operations.
“At the present time, Mr. Gordon Doty Is in dharge of
this section of our office. Mr. Doty was transferred
from his previous position as an auditor in the Fran-
chise Tax Division. He has a very limited knowledge
of the technicalities of these machines. He is interested
and has put forth a splendid effort. When rewiring prob-
lems arise, he calls on Mr, Steve Bishop of the I.B.M.
Company, but this ts sometimes a slow way to handle
needs. There is only so much of this burden that we
can place upon the I.B.M. personnel.”
your letter closed by asking if this person could be paid
his travel expense and per diem while attending this training school.
, -
Hon. Tom Reavley. page 2 (s-209)
Section 9a and lob of Article VI of the General Appropriation
Bill of the 54th Legislature requires that all travel be for official state
business.
Considering, the situation as described by you, it is evident
that the training given at this five-day school will be directly and sub-
stantially used by the employee to’facilitate the operation of the I.B.M.
machine in a more efficient manner. It will be poseible to handle the
large work load of the entire off&e in a more advantageous manner
without the delay and expenae caused by requesting the assistance of
the local I.B.M. Company during rewiring operations.
In reaching our conclusion, we have carefully considered
Attorney General’s Opinions O-4387 (1942), O-1195 (1939), R-2128 (1950),
O-5981 (1944). O-4167 (1941), O-4267 (1942) and 2993 (1933). It is our
opinion that the facts in the present situation establish that the relation-
ship between the purpose of the trip and the accomplishment of the
functions of government entrusted to the employee is reasonable, sub-
stantial and direct. Therefore, the employee may be allowed his travel
expense and per diem.
SUMMARY
Payment of travel expense and per diem
to-a State employee in charge of the operation
of I.B.M. machines while attend&g a training
school in the operation of such machines is
authorined.
APPROVED: Yours very truly,
J. C. Davis, Jr. JOHN BEN SI-IEPPERD
County Affairs Division Attorney General
W. V. Geppert
Reviewer By6Rc&$ &ti
J. Arthur Sandlin Philip Sanders
Reviewer Assistant
John Reeves
Reviewer
Davis Grant
First Assistant
John Ban Shepperd
Attorney General
1