December 31, 1953
Wm. B. B. Sapp
Dlwctor and Executive SecretarT
Teacher Retirement System of Texan
Auet Lo, Texas
Opialon NO. s-119
Re: %mployineutof retired
members of the Teacher
Retirement System in
Dew Mrs. Saw: the pnbllc schools.
You have requested an oplnlon on the conetltution-
ality of Chapter 423, Acte of the 53rd Laglalature, 1953,
vhlch amends Subeectlon 1 of Section 5 of Article 2922-1,
Vernon’s Civil Statutes (Teacher Retirement Act) laeofrr a.8
it eliminates from this subsection the following provision:
II. . . Any member who has accepted retire-
ment benef-itsunder--the ,-termsof the Teacher Re-
~tlremeatSystem of Texas may be employed la the
Public Schools of Texas; provided howevap, that
during eald time a rtt&red .aember Is 80 employed,
ret iremeat benefit.paywent tihatvould otheFaise~
have -been paid to said retired member ahal. be
suepended and shall be rueumed again when said re-
tired m&bar l-eavesnald employment; provided fur-
~thur, that during the t&ma said retired ,memberIs
~.so~arployed that no retlrsment ~deductlons shall be
made f-m hie salary, and that retirement benefIts
to be paid to eald ret%& member after employment
is diecontinued and ret~kement benefits are resumed
ehall be paid In the same amount as were paid to
said retired member on the original retirement;
provided further, that during the time that said
retired member is 80 employed both the membership
annuity payments and the prior serv.iceannuity
payments to which said retired member would have
bean entitled had he not 80 returned to emplomt ,
shall be transferred to the State Memberahlp ACCU-
mulation Fund of Teacher Retirement System of Texas.”
. -. .
Mrs. B. B. Sapp, page 2 (S-119)
The title of Chapter 423, as here applicable, reads:
“An act amending Subsections 1 . . . of Sec-
tion 5 of . . . Article 2922-l of Vernon’s Revised
Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, to provide for com-
pulsory retirement of members of the Teacher Re-
tirement System upon reaching a certain age under
certa~lnconditions; . . .”
section 35 of Article III of the Constitution of
Texas requires that the subject of a laglslatlve bill be, ex-
pressed in ita title. As often stated, the purpose of this
requirement is to give notice to the members of the Leglsla-
ture and the people of the scope of the subject matter of the
proposed law. “The title must be such as to reasonably apprise
the public of the interests that are or may be affected by the
statute .n Gulf Ins. Co. v. James, 143 Tex. 424, 185 S.Y.2d
966 (1945).
The general rules for determining the sufficiency of
the title of an amendatory act are summarieed in the following
quotation from 39 Texas Jurisprudence, Statutes, 8 48:
“In addition to the statement of a purpose to
amend a given law or provision, a title may specify
the nature of the amendment, and when it does so
the body of the act must, conform. A title that
speclfles the part lcular field an amendment 1s to
cover or states 8 purpose to make a certain change
in the prior law, and that 1s not merely descrlp-
tlvo of the matters to which the lav relates,
llmlts the amendatory act to the making of the
change designated and precludes any additlonal,
contrary or different madmeat. Thus a title
that expresses a purpose to change a prior law by
aadlng or extending a provision or conferring a
right does,not warrant -an amendment that omits or
restricts a provision,of the original act or de-
stroys ~a previously existing right. . . .
“A title expressing a purpose to amend a stat-
ute in a certain particular is deceptive and mls-
leading in so far as the body~of the act purports
to amend the prior law in other particulars. The
amendatory act is void to the extent that its pro-
visions go beload express limitations or the scope
of the title.
.*, .
i
Mrs. B. B. Sagp, page 3 (S-119)
The title of an amendatory act which undertakes to
specify the particular field of amendment must give notice of
changes resulting from omissions and deletions in the statute
_-
being amended. Hard Cattle & Pasture Co. v. Carpenter, 109
Tex. 103, 200 3.m (1918); Lone Star Gas Co. v. Birdwell,
74 S.W.2d 294 (Tax. Civ. App. 1934).
Subsection 1 of Section 5 of Article 2922-1, as it
existed prior to the enactment of Chapter 423, dealt not only
with compulsory retirement after a member reached 70 years of
age, but also with voluntary retirement prior to that age and
with re-entry into active service after a member had accepted
retirement benefits. This subsection as emended in tiapter
423 reads exactly as the prior law, except that the provisions
relating to re-employment after retirement are omitted. It
is seen that the caption of Chapter 423 is not merely descrlp-
tive of the matters to which the law relates, as even in its
amended form Subsection 1 relates to a broader field than
compulsory retirement. It states a purpose to make certain
changes in the prior statute. The caption of the bill lndl-
cated that ths change in Subsection 1 dealt only with com-
pulsory retirement. It failed to give notice that the amend-
ment changed the existing law affecting the re-employment of
members who had accepted retirement benefits. Accordingly,
the attempted deletion of this portion of Subsection 1 was
void, and it continues in force as it existed prior to the
enactment of Chapter 423.
SUMMARY
The attempted deletion of the portion of Sub-
section 1 of Section 5, Article 2922-1, V.C.S.
(Teacher Retirement Act) regulating employment of
members of the Teacher Retirement System after re-
tirement is not expressed in the title of the
smendatory act (Chapter 423, Acts 53rd Leg., 1953)
-0..
Mrs. B. B. Sapp, page 4 (S-119)
and ie void. Tax. Coast. Art. III, Sec. 35. Con-
sequently, these provisions as enacted in 1951 are
still in effect.
APPROVED: Yours very truly,
JORN BEN SREPPERD
John Atchison Attorney General
Revlewr
Eugene Brady
Reviewer By-r-
Mary K. Wall
Robert 3. Trottl Assistant
First Assistant
John Ben Shepperd
Attorney General
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion