OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Hr. a: a. Dolly
nor OrooiawAlt
ThsUnl.vor~~ity
of Tezar
Auuetinj Texas
Dear alrr OP*~LO~ a~,.. o-7189
~raqurstlng an
opinion on tho a411it deorerary to
s4t 6tlt your IO quote only the
tir8t,,~ we think stats the
queetion at ibb
tfully ‘requested upon
%I oonrmction with the foregofag quratlca.,
your attantton 16 direotad to ~subseotion2
or the general prOvIsIons or the present
Mr. J. C. Dolly, pa&e 2
appropriation bill gove+=nlngt&e payment of
salaries theraunder.W
Subsection 2 ofthe general appropriation bill is
found on page SG$ of the General and Special Laws, 49th Legis-
lature, Regular Session, 1945, and reads ln part as follows:
"Subseotion 2. Salary Provisions. No salary
appropriation herein shall be supplgaented
out or student ree fuss, dormFt0ry rude, or
local funds except out of the Pure Feed Funds
at the Agrioultural and Meohanioal College or
out 0r fund8 reoeived from the United states
Government or Its agenaies, unlese 90 ordered
by the governing board of the inatltution to
whiohatoh salary or salaries apply, at a regular
meeting with at least a laajorltyofthe membera
or such board present, e&d such order shall be
entered in the minutes or.said board and shall
set forth the reasons thereror.
"No fulltims instruotional salary as itemized
herein shall be increased from any fund, exoept
from the Pure Feed Fund at the Aarloultural an&
Meeohanioal'Collegeor from funds‘-reoeivedfrom
the United States Government or its agenaies.
to sn amount in ~10088 or the maximum salary
provided herein for positions or sllailarrank
in the same Institution, unless the ataxiaum
salary or higher salary WAS legally paid in
the preoediug biennium in whioh ease the salary
may be supplemented not toacoeod lO$. It Is
further provided that oompenaa@lon for oorres-
pondenoe and/or errtensionteaohing as provided
herein and compensation rrom bequests and girts
shall be exoluded from the salary limitation in
this paragraph. The rate of the salary paid
an employee of any institution named herein
ror services during a suauaersession shall not
exceed the salary rate paid the employee for
the same or similar servioes in that Institution
during the longmssion."
In order to determine the intenticm of the 49th Leg-
islature in plaolng the exoeption which ws have underlined In
subseotlon 2 of he general appropriation bill quoted above,
we think it necessary to oompare It with the sitilar provision
in the appropriation for eduoational institutions by the 48th
Mr. J. C. Dolly, page 3
Legislature, On page 878 of the Regular Session laws, 48th
Legislature, we find the r0ii0ting provioion:
"Subseation (2). Salary Provisions. NO salary
appropriated herein shall be supplemented out
of student fee funds,dormitory funds, or local
funds, exoept out ofthe Pure Feed.Fund at the
Agrioultural and Meohanical College or out of
funds reoeivad from the United SEatea Government
or its agencies, unless EQ oraered by the epverning
board of the institution towhich such salary or
salaries apply, at a regular meeting with at least
a majority ofthe members of such board present,
and suoh order shall be entered in theminutes of
the prooeedings of said board and shall set forth
fully the reasons therefor. No full time in
structional salary as itemized herein shall be
-ted to sxoeed an amount above the maximum
as herein Itemized to be
aoorooriated from the General Revenue Fund of
the State'forthe particular institution to
which aaid salary or salaries aooly. unless the
e received in vhioh ease
dlustment mav be made not to exoeed ten
UO) oer oent above suchmaxlmum salary so re-
geived. * * *"
It will be noted that the exception oontalned ln para-
graph 2 of subseotion 2, General Provisions of the Appropriation
Aot ror Educational institutions, 49th Legislature, is not
found in the above quotation. We think it clear that no
authority existed, byreason of the provisions quoted.+nedi-
ately above, to increase a full.Ume instruotimal salary in
an amount in excess of 10% above the maximum full proressor's
salary as itemized in the Aot. The 49th Legislature was evi-
dently consoious of this fact and we believe the exception,
i.e. "* . . except from . . . funds received from the United
States Government or itsagenoies. . ." was placed in tha Aot
for the specific purpese of excluding the funds ao reoeived
from the provisions l~liniting
salary adjustments to lO$ above
the amount aouually reaeived during the preoeding blenniu.
You are advised, therefore, that it is the considered
opinion of this department that the Board of Regents have legal
authority to increase the salaries of full time Instructional
positions to an amount greater than lodjo,
if and only if, the
.
Mr. J. C. Dolly, page 4
needed hnds for such increases are derived solely from funds
reaelvsd from the United States Goverrment or Its agencies.
Trusting the above satisfaotorily answers your in-
W-Y, we are ~-
Yoill-s very truly
ATTCRNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
BY (aignea)
E. M. DeGeurln
Assistant
BPF'ROVXDAF'R 10, 1946
(signed) Grover Sellers
A!l!TORNFi
0ENFS.U OF TEKAS
APPROVED:
Opinion Oommlttee
By J. C. D., Chairman