Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

R-05 OFPICE OF THE ArToRNEY GENERAL Ausmrv. TEXAS PRICE DANIEL NTORNEY GENERAl Janne~ry 11, 1947 Roti. A. 0. Willman,’ Dire&or veterads State’Service Ciiice .. tina 0fm0 milafng Bustip, Texas ,’ qpsnion No. v-05 Re: Whether or not it is le- gal for the Veterans Ystate Servfoe Olfiae to pay dut ot its expense f ua, expenses incurred by employee on temporary duty,~ suah employee be- ing c.a.rriea on the s&l+ .a. qry payroll of the Adju- tant General’s Depart- ment . Dear Mr. Willman: We beg to aaknowleage~ reoeipt or your request for an opinion upon the above subject ‘matter, yo~ur re- quest being as follows: “Colonel Thomas W. Gahagen Gho ,is employed by the Adjutant Gene~ral’s Department ha& been assigned. to. this office on temporary duty effeotive Ootober 22. Since that time expenses inourrsd by him whil’e traveling for this office are being paid Out of our traveling expense tuna. QUESTION: Is it- leg61 for the Veterans’ State Servlae Oiiioe to pay out o? its expense fund, expenses inourred by an employee while on temporary duty with this off ioe and employee is being carried on the salary payrolls of the Adjutant General *s Department?- We ‘beg to advise that the payment of the tray- cling expetie.. of the employee of’,.the Adjutant Gene,ral’s Department named ~by you may not be PaId from Item 104 - Hon. A. 0. Willman, Page 2 Traveling expenses - of the appropriation for Veterans State Service Office, our reasons therefor being as fol- lows: It is fundamental law that no monies may be paid from the State Treasury except upon a specific ap- propriation made by the Legislsturd for the particular purpose to which it is applied. Item 104 of your appro- priation for traveling expense necessarily means that such fund is to be applied to the traveling expense of officers and employees in yo~urService. As we. under- stand your letter, the facts are that Colonel.Gahageh~is not an officersor,'employeekhstever of your Service but on the contrary he is an officer or employee of the Ad- -jutantGeneral's-Department and his salary is being paid from the appropriate item of the appropriation for that department. While Colonel Gahagen is performing actual services for the ~beriefit of your Service, and while the cooperetion%n this respect of the AdjutantGeneral's De- partsientSs a most worthy one, nevertheless the Comptrol- lerwotid.not be~.authorizedto approve the claim and is-. sue,his warrant for Colonel Gahagen's expenses against Item 104 or sny-other item of the appropriation for the Veterans Servke: This opinion follows opinion #O-7257 by this. department to Honorable L. A. Woods, State Superinten- dent of Public Instruction, wherein we said, "There is inthe,approp-riation.for.the State Depa'rtment.ofEduca,; tion, ,for the.current biennium, Item.26; - Traveling Expense - $10,750.00 per annum. The purposefor which that item of appropriation is made is, of course, to pay the travelingexpense of ~knployeesand representa- tives oftthe~depsrtment. 'This could'not posdibly~be codstrued;to include the travel expense of persons, however worthy, a+ -~however: helpful;who werenot 'mem- bers or employees of the department." ,: .. SWRY: The travel expen.se.ofone belonging ~~'to'.the Adjutant General's Department ~'whether~asan-offlcer'or an employee . ~maynot be paidfrom'the appropriation /~ y made'for‘travel expense'pf the Vete- .'rane Servfce~Gffice;such person be- i ,/ .I, *ingneither anoffiber.nor an employ- ., '. ee df'tse‘~Veteraris:Service Office. Ron. A. 0. Willman, Page 3 Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENERAL OF~T'EXAS By4!2 & Ocie Speer Assistant APPROVED JAN. 11, 1947 && OS:WB* Approved Opinion Committee By %wB Chairman