Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

-._ TEE ATJYORNEY G&& OF ?rExAs AUETIYN~~.TIEXAE February 35, 1952 Hon. John Ii. Winters Opinion Ror V-1413 IfxecutiVe Director State Department of Ret Authority of Waco State Public Welfare Home to participate in Austin, Texas Board Local Fund appro- priations and In the Special Reserve Account, and authority to trans- fer funds between line item appropriations made to the Home for the ;;ey;; ending August Dear Sir: 9 . You have requested an opinion of this office on the several questions detailed below pertafnlng to the appropriations made to the Waco State Home for the biennium ending August 31, 1953. In 1949 the Legislature transferred the man- agement and control of the Waco State me to the Board for State Hospitals and Special SchoolsBP from the Board of Control. H.B. 1, Acts Xst Leg., B.S. 1949, ch. 316, 588 (Art. 3174b, V.C.S. 1. As a consequence the 8'oard was In control of the Waco Home at the time of passage of the appropriation bL11 by the 52nd Leglsla- ture, and all financial provlsions relating to the Home in the general appropriation bill for the biennium be- innin September 1 1951 and ending August 31, 1953 7H.B. 626, Acts 52nA Leg ., B.S. 1951, ch. 499, p. 1228) are couched In terms of authority to be exercised by the Board. However, the management and control of the Waco State Rome was transferred from the Board to the State Department of Public Welfare by the 52nd Legisla- ture, effective October 1, 19 H.B. 540 Acts 52nd Leg., R.S. 1951a ch. 485, PO ? 66 (Art. 325$b, V.C.S.) . This transfer has raised many questions per- taining to fiscal operations of the Waco State Home for the remainder of this biennium. A determination of the authority now vested in the Department of Public Wdfare, &/ The Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools will hereafter be referred to as the Board. Hon. John 8. Winters, page 2 (V-1413) , i and that which remains in the Board, if any with regard to the Waco State Home finances for 4he re- mainder of this biennium will eliminate many of these problems. Section I of House Bill 540, suurq, pro- vides: “Effective ‘the first day of the month after this Act becomes law, the management, government ,~~and control of the Waco State Home, Waco, Texas shall be and are hereby transferred from 4he Board of Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools to the State Department of Public Welfare and all other facilities hereafter established by the State for the care and education of depend- ent and neglected children shall be under the control and management of the State De- partment of Public Welfare. “The State Department of Public Wel- fare shall succeed to and be vested with all the rights, powers, duties, facilities, personnel, records and appropriations now held and which wili be appropriated for the biennium beginning September 1, 195l by the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools for the ear6 of-dependent and neg- lected children now in, or who may hereafter ;zx;;mmltted to the Waco State Home, Waco, SW The critical provision above Is the sta e- ment that “The State Department of Public Welfare .2 shall succeed to and be vested with all the w, powerg, dutleg, . . . and ~aunroDrlat1 m go held D . . by the Board- for Texas State Hospitals and Spe- cial Schools for the care of dependent and neglected children . . .n3 It will be noted that this Act transferred the rights, powers,.dutles, and appropriations “~pk! j&#’ by the Board. Tt is therefore essential to de- termkng the moment in time contemplated by the words y The State Department of Public Welfare will hereafter be referred togas the Department. y Emphasis~ added,throughout. Eon. John H. Winters, page 3 (V-1413) %ow held” so we can ascertain what rights powers, and duties were held by the Board at that {Ime. In the early case of Fisher . Silaon. 95 Tax. 234, 66 S.W. 447 (1902) it Is heli that the word “now” In an Act providing for notice of sale as “now required by lawn meant that notice was to be given In the manner required by law at the time the Act In question became effective. Applying this rule to the facts before us, we find that the provisions of House Bill !%O became effective on October 1, 19%. There- fore, the problem for determination Is the rights, powers, duties and appropriations held by the Board on October 1, 1951. The provision transferring appropriations “Which will be a proprlated for the biennium beginning September 1, 19 8” could Indicate that the “now held” provision related to some other appropriations made prior to September & 199. This seeming inconsistency is explained by the hact that the bill contained an em- ergency provision, Indicating that it was contemplated that the bill go into effect immediately, which would have been prior to September 1, 195l. However, the Senate passed the bill fiva vote, and, under the provi- sions of Article III, Section 39 of the Texas Constitu- tion the Act could not become law qtil 90 days after the adjournment of the Legislature. The result of this enforced wait Is that the transfer of approprla- tlons @‘now held” and “appropriations which will be ap- propriated for the biennium beginning September 1, lm” are synonymous terms. Finally, It must be noted that the rights, powers, duties, and appropriations transferred were those held by.the Board for the care of dependent and neglected children. This did not transfer rights, pow- ers, duties, and appropriations held by the Board, the exercise of which, with regard to the Home, would af- fect other institutions which remain under the juris- diction of the Board. That the Legislature took from the Board only those rights, powers, duties, and appro- priations which the Board held or exercised on behalf of the Home alone Is clear from a reading of the whole Act, including the emergency clause. There was obvious- ly no Intent to give to the Department any form of au- thority which, in Its exercise, would in some manner affect Institutions other than the Waco Home. it/ The act became law on September 7, 1951, the 52nd Legislature having adjourned on June 8, 195l. Hon. John B. Winters, page 4 (V-1413) With the above holdings in mind, we will now turn to your specific questions. Will the Waco Home be eligible for the $36,5Ot*appropriation made to it for the 1952- 53 fiscal year In Line Items 30, 31, and 32, all of which come from the Board Local Fund? H.B. 426, Acts 52nd Leg., B.S. 195l, ch. 499, p. 1273. You state that the Comptroller of Public Accounts Is of the opinion that you cannot share in the Board Local Fund during the 1952-53 fiscal year since you will not be under the jurisdiction of the Board at any time during that fiscal year. We have reached a diiferent conclusion. The Act transfers to the Department all rights held by the Board on behalf of the Home on October 1 195l.. One of the rights held for the Home on tha i date was the right given by the appropriation bill (H.B. 426) to share Zn the Board Local Fund to the extent of $36,500 in 1952-53. This right is now held by the Department on the Home’s behalf and the Home Is entitled to that amount at the proper time. At the sane time it must be pointed out that one of the duties placed upon the Board on be- half of the Home by the general appropriation bill is the duty of placing enumerated local funds in the Board Local Fund. This duty has now passed to the Department, and it is still required that the proper local funds of the Home be placed in the Board Local Fund and not in some other local fund. Sec. 10, Art. II, H.B. 426, suura, at p. 12%. 2. Would the Waco State Home be eligible to share in the $600 000 Special Reserve Account cre- ated by Section 9a oh Article II of House Bill 426 (pa 1294) if the need arose for emergency funds? On October 1 1951, the Board held on be- half of the Home the &ht to share in the Special Reserve Account if the necessity for it arose. This right was transferred to the Department, and it now holds this right on behalf of the Home. However, the decision of the necessity for funds and the anou& to be received by each is held by the Board on behalf of all hospitals and special schools. Therefore sinzthe use of the power would affect all institu- tions under Its jurlsdictlon the Board still retains I Hon. John H. Viatars, page 5 .(V-l413) the right of determlnlng the need for and extent to which the Waco Home may participate In this fond. 3. May the Department transfer funds from one line Item appropriation to the other and speci- fically from General Revenue Fund line igems to Board Local Fund line items and from Board Local Fund Items to General Revenue Fuud items? Section 7 of Article II, House Bill 426 (p. 1293) gave to the Board authority to make trans- fers between line item appropriations of institutions, between line item appropriations of the Central Office, and between institutions. Att’y Gen. Op. v-1305 U95l.j. The authority to transfer between line items of the appropriation to the Home was one of the powers trans- ferred to the Department since the exercise of this au- thority has no effect upon other institutions. How- ever, the other two types of transfers must still be made by the Board. There .ls no restriction upon the manner of transfer between the line item appropriations to the Waco Home. Section 10(d) of Article II, House Bill 426 (p. 1295) provides: “(d) All items herein appropriated to the several Institutions Including the Cen- tral Office, for bond premiums, post office box rent, land rental, postage, telephone, telegraph, heat, water, light, power, travel expenses maintenance of structures and eqcipmen 8 , shall be paid from the Board Local Fund. It is further provided that the items herein enumerated shall not be supplemented from any other funds appropriated in this Article, except as provided in Section 7(a) and (b) and Section 9, as provided In this Article .v The exception provided is that no funds appro- priated for these items shall be supplem ted from any other funds appropriated In this Article F except through Sections 7(a) and (b) and Section 9, relating to the 2/ up., Artlcle~ II, dealing with eleemosYnarY instl- tutions. / :.__.I ‘i I Hon. John H. Winters, page 6 O-1413) transfer and Special Reserve Account provisions. Therefore there Is no limit upon the ametmt of funds thag may be placed In any line Item account, either from general or local funds so long as the funds are placed in the accoun i by a transfer between line Items or by reeelpt of additional monry from the Special Reserve Account. 4.~ May the Department create new Item classlflcatlons and transfu appropriations into such new elasslficatlons? The authority to make transfers Is only ror the purpose of transferrIng between L-ine Items. There Is no authority to ereato new Item classlfl- cations* If the item desired does not fall wlthln one of the present classlflcatlons, it cannot be purchased. 5. When there has been a transfer of General Revenue or Board Local funds from one line item fund to a line item fund of opposite origin, what fund should be charged when the transferred money Is expended? When a transfer is made, there should be a bookkeeping transactioh removing the amount from the line item fund from which It is transferred and placing it to the credit of the line item fund to which it 1s being transferred. When the noney is expended, it must then be charged to the ltie item account which gives the authoriiation to spend the money for the article In question. ~xhe fact that the funds originally cam6 from General Revenue or Board Local Funds Is of no s$gnificance after the transfer Is made. H.B. 5%) Acts 52nd Leg., B.S. 195l, ch. 485, p. 880 (Art. 3255b, V.C.S.), transferred to the State Department of public Welfare all rights j .powers, duties, and appropriations held by the Board for State Hospitals and Speclal’Schools on be- half of the Waco State,Home OR Oetobor 1, 1951. Hon. John H. Winters, page 7 (V-1413) The right to receive $36,500 from the Board Local Fund for the 1952-53 fiscal year (H.B. 426 Acts 52nd Leg., R.S. 195l, ch. 499 p. 1238 at p. 1273) was trans- ferred c o the Welfare Department. The right to participate in the $600,- 000 Special Reserve Account (H.B. 426, p. 1294) was transferred to the Welfare Depart- ment, but the Board retains the power of deciding who shall participate and to what extent, since this is a power 4 o be exer- cised on behalf of all eleemosynary lnstltu- t Ions. The Welfare Department has authority to make transfers between line Item approprla- tions to the Waco Home (H.B. 426, p. 1272) but has no authority to create new Item classlficatlons. When money is expended it must be charged to the line item appropria- tion that authorizes the expenditure, and the fact that the money originally came from General Revenue or the Board Local Fund Is of no significance after the transfer Is made. APPROVED: Yours very truly C. K. Richards PRICE DANIEL Trial & Appellate Division Attorne~y General E. Jacobson Reviewing Assistant By(r‘wrti Charles D. Mathews E. Wa Thode First Assistant Assistant EWT:wb