-._ 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
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