July 9, 1953
Hon. Robert S. Calvert Op:nion No. S-64
Comptroller of Public Accounts .
Capitol Station Re: Validity of the
:2ust:n, Texas appropriations in
House Bill 39, Acts
53rd Legislature,
1953, relating to
motor vehicle in-
spection, in the
absence of certiPi-
: cation by the Comp-
troller under Sec.
49a, Art. III, Con-
Dear Sir: stitution of Texas.
You have requested the opinion of this office
on whether the appropriations made in House Bill 39#
Acts of the 53rd Legislature, are 'of such a nature as
to require the certificate of the Comptroller provided
for in Section 49a of Article III of the State Constl-
tution."
House Bill 39 amends the sections of the
Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Righvaaya (Art, 67016,
V.C..S.) which deal with inspection of vehicles and which
are usually referred to as the Hotor Vehicle Inspection
Law. Although enacted as a general law, the bill con-
tains two appropriations which are effective for a period
of two years if they are otherwise valid0 Your question
relatea to their validity in the light of Section 49s
of Article III of the Constitution, which reads in part
a8 followes
"Ram and after January 1,~1945, save
in the case of emergency and Imperative pub-
1% necessity and with a four-Piithe vote of
the total membership of each Rouse, no appro-
priation in excess of the cash and antfci-
pated revenue of the funds from which such
appropriation is to be made ahall be valid.
From and after January 1, P945, no bill Oon-
taining an appropriation shall be considered
lion, Robert S. Calvert, page 2 (s-64)
as passed or be sent ~to the Governor for
consideration untl.l’tind unl.ess the Comptrol-
lkr of Pub11 c Accounts endorses his certi.f-
icate thereon showing that the amount appro-
priated is within the amount estimated to be
ava,ilable in the affected funds.
The effect of the failure to obtain the Comp-
troller’s certification on’House Bill 39 must be con-
sidered from the standpoint of three separate appro-
pr! at ions., namely:
(1) The rppropr4at;f on conl;a:ined In House B~lll
111, Acts 53rd Leg. (Gene:?,%1 .Appropri.at:i~on ?ct) for
administration of the Mot’@ Vehicle Inspection Division
of the Department of Public. Safety during the biennium
beginning September 1, 1953.
(2) The appropriation in Section 3 of House
Bill 39 for supplementation of salaries of certain em-
ployees of the Department of Public Safety and employ-
ment of additional patrolmen.
(3) The appropriation contained in Section 6
of House Bill 39 for refunds on uniss’ued inspection
certificates.
The Motdf,Vehicle Inspection Law, as enacted
by Chapter 141, Acts of the 52nd Legislature, 1951 (a-
mending Sets. 140-142, Art. 67016, V.C,.S.) created the
Motor Vehicle Inspection,Fund and allocated the moneys
in the Fund for us,e in thk, administration of the law.
Subdivision (a) of’Seetlon 141. Subdivlsion (g) of
Section 140 authorized the appointment and compensation
of officers %nd employees to carry out the provisions of
‘,the section within the amounts made available by appro-
priation.” The amounts appropriated for this purpose for
the biennium beginning September 1 1953, are fixed by
the General Appropriation Act at $432 480 for the year
ending August 31, 1954, and at $421,680 for the year
ending August 31, 1955. H.B. 111, Act& 53rd Leg. House
Bill 111 was passed on April 14, 1953, was duly certified
by the Comptroller as wittiip the available revenues, and
was approved by the dove&k on April 29, 1953. All of
this occurred prior to the enactment of House Bill 39.
Immediately following the provision cresting
the Motor Vehicle Inspecti.on Fund and allocating it for
administrative expenses, Subdivision (a) of Section 141,
Article 6701d, as amended in Section 3 of House Bill 39,
Han, Robert S, Celvert, page 3 (S-54)
contains the following new proviafon:
I,e 0 0
Provided, however, t!?at any
balance remainfng fn such fund which is
determined at any time by t?le Public Srf”ety
Commfss:on to be in excess of the amount
required for the admfnistratlon of thfs
Act may be used by, and fs hereby appro-
priated to, the Texas Department of iublfc
Safety, to be used as Pollows: q D 0
The purposes tl!en set, out in the statute are
(1) supplementation of salaries or certafn classes of
employees and (2) employment of” additional highway
patrolmen.
WhPle not ePf*ective as a contfnuing appro-
priation, thfs 1s an appropriation for two years. The
section appropriates the balance over and above other
a.mounts appropriated from the Motor Vehicle Inspection
Fund o If no balance exists, nothfng 1s appropriated;
if a balance does exfst, that and no more is appropriated*
The only action which the Comptroller could possibly have
taken ff House Bj,,ll 39 had been sent to him for certifi-
cation would have been to certify that the amount ap-
propriated in this section wss withfn the anticipated
revenue D We think this appropriation falls Nith1.n the
purview ,of Attorney General’s Opinion O-G626 (1945),
which held that an approprfatfon of al3 the money coming
into a spec?Y?.c fund, :f~l.%ho:.:t statz,ng any specfrfc amount,
did not have to be certif”ied, since the amount appro-
priated could not possibly exceed the available revenue.
Coming to the appropriatfon contafned fn See-
tfon 6 or House Bill 39, this approprfation reads:
“As much of the Motor Vehicle Inspection
Fund as may be necessary is hereby appropriated
and set aside to pay refunds as provided by law 0”
Under the Motor Veh%cle Inspection Law prfor to
amendment by House Bill 39 (as ft exfsted at the time
House Bfll 111 was certified), the Department of Public
Safety furnished blank fnspectfon certlffcates to the
Inspection statfons, and upon Issuance the inspection
station remftted to the Department of Public Safety for
each certiffcate issued by it 25 cents of the $l,OO fee
pafd by the vehicle owner- An amendment made in House
Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 4 (S-64)
Bill 39 permits the Department of Public Safety to re+
quire each Inspection station to make an advance pay-
ment of 25 cents on each certificate blank furnished to
it, and the inspection station Is entitled to a refund
on all unissued certificate blanks which it later
returns to the Department. The approprlat Ion In
Section 6 is for paying these refinds.
This change in procedure will not affect
the ultimate amount of revenue derived under the Motor
Vehicle Inspection Law. For every refund which is made,
there must have been a prior payment Into the Motor
Vehlcle’Inspection Fund which would not have been made
under the old procedure. At the time House Bill 39 was
passed, there was no way of estimating how much of the
~money which may be deposited in the Fund a8 advance pay-
ments will be paid out in the form of refunds. However,
the amount cannot be greater than the Increase In de-
posits over the amount which the State would receive If
Its portion of the Inspection fee was remitted after
the certificate was issued. For each. refund there would
have to be a corresponding prepayment. If House Bill
39 had been submitted to the Comptroller for certifi.-
cation, the only action he could have taken would have. .
been to certify that funds for paying this appropriation
would be available. In keeping with the
holding In Opinion, O-6626, we are of the
certification ls not necessary under these
SUUUAHY
Section 49a of Article III, Coneti-
tutlon of Texas, does not require sub-
mission of anappropriation bill to the
Comptroller for certification If the
nature of the appropriation Is such that
the only action the Comptroller could take
would be,to certify that the amount appro-
priated Is within the amount estimated to
be available In t!le affected funds. The
appropriations in House Bill 39, Acts 53rd
Legislature (Uotor Vehicle Inspection Law)
for additional salary payments out of the
balance remaining in the Motor Vehicle
Inspection Fund and for payment of refunds
on rlnlssued Inspection certificates are of
. . ,~, /‘?.
_, ,..” y:, a *...
. -
Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 5 (s-64)
this nature.
Yours very truly,
JOHN BEN SHEPPBRD
Attorney CIeneral
.
APPROVED:
John Ben Shepperd
Attorney General
.