R-588
June 28, 1947
Honorable Joe Nelson, Chief Accountant
Board of County & District Road Indebtedness
Austin, Texas
Opinion NO. v-277
Re: Effective date of House Bill No. 21,
30th Legislature relative to al-
location of surplus funds by Roard
of County and District Road Indebted-
ness.
Dear Sir:
We refer to your letter of June 12, 1947, in which you submit the
following:
"During the past session of the Legislature House Bill21
passed, which provides for a different method of allocating
OUT surplus funds to the State Highway Department and the
several counties. This bill containing an emergency qlause
was passed by the House on April 8, 1947, by a vote of 95
ayes and.34 noes. It was passed by the Senate with.,
amendmen'zson Mey 7, 194'7,by a vote of 17 ayes Wi5 noes.
The House concurred in the Senate amendments on May'13,
1947, by B vote of 86 to 35, and this bill was signed by
the Governor on May 31, 1947.
"In view of this information we ssk that you please advise
us the date that House Bill21willbecome a law. It is on
September 1 of each year that we ere required to allocate
our surplus funds to the counties, and we ask that yo'ou
please advise us if we should make this allocation es
provided in Article 6674, or if this allocation should
be made as provided for by House Bill 21.*
Section 39 of Article III of the State Constitution reads:
"No law passed by the Legislature, except the general
appropriation act, shall take effect or go into force
until njnety days after the adjournment of the session
at which it was enacted, unless in case of emergency, which
emergency must be expressed in a preamble or i+ the body of
the act, the Legislature shall, by a vote of
all the members elected to each house, otherwT-thirds
se direct:Of
Honorable Joe Nelson, Page 2 V- 277
said vote to be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon
the journals."
When the last vote on House Bill No. 21was taken in the Senate on
May 7, 1947, there were 30 elected members of the Senate. The vote was
17 yeas and 5 nays. On May 13, 1947, when the last vote was taken in
the House on that said Bill, there were 147 elected members of the
House of Representatives. The vote in the House was 86 yeas and 35
nays. That law was not passed by a vote of two-thirds of the elected
members of each House, by reason of which itwill take effect 90 days
after adjournment of the 50th Legislature on June 6, 1947-
We areassuming that your reference to Article 6674q really means
Article 66749-7 of Vernon's Civil Statutes and to sub-section h of
that section, which will remain in effect and serve as your guide until
House Bill No. 21 supersedes. That sub-section requires that:
"(h) On September 1st of each year after the Board has paid
off and discharged all eligible obligations maturing during
the preceding fiscal year, together with the interest on
such obligations and the sinking fund requirements accuring
thereon and of the County and Road District Highway Fund,
any surplus remaining in said fund over and above Three
Million ($3,000,000.00) shall be set aside and credited."
. . . ." one-half to the State Highway Fund and one-half
to the Lateral Road Account . . . v
*Not later than September 15th of each year the said Board
shall ascertain the exact amount of money which has been
allocated to the said Lateral Road Account for such fiscal
year and which at that time is available. The Board shall
allocate to each county its proportionate part of the moneys
in said Lateral Road Account, which allocation shall be
determined in the following manner": Then the method of
distribution is set out, but is not material to your inquiry0
Summarized, the law requires that the Board make the division between
the State Highway Fund and the Lateral Read Account on September lst,
and make the allocations to the counties not later than September
15th of each year. If such allocations be made by the Board before
September 5, 1947, sub-section h of Article 69749-T applies to such
action; if made on or after September 5, 1947, when House Bill No. 21
becomes effective, the provisions of that law must be applied to such
allotments.
Honorable Joe Nelson, Page 3 V-277
SUMMARY
House Bill No. 21 passed by the 50th Legislature
relative to allocation of surplus in the County and
Road District Highway Fund not having passed the
Legislature by vote of two-thirds of the elected
members of each House, will not become effective until
90 days after adjournment of the Legislature on June
6, 1947. If allocations such surplus funds be made
before September 5, 1947, sub-section (h) of Article
6674g-7 controls such allocation; if made after
September 5, 1947, House Bill No. 21 controls such
allocations.
Yours very truly
A!LTORNEY 'ZNERALOFTEXAS
$1 W. T. Williams
By
W. T. Williams
Assistant
APPROVED
s/ Price Daniel
AlTORNEY GENERAL
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