OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAi OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Texas Unemployment Compensation &m~ieslon
Brown Building
Austin, T e x a e
(Pentlemen:
.-
es, 1940, aubmlte for
following quaetion,
‘Colleotion Dietriot of Texas:
on with the administration of
surance Contributions Act and the
Federal Unemployment Tax Aot, (formml. Titles
VIII and IX of the Soofal Seaurity Act T we have
in aoms few casEa fauna it practloall~ impossl-
ble to obtaln suffloient reoorde upon whloh to
base our reoonmendatlon for assessments of taxes
ageinst the employer. In some instancea we ob-
taln Information from the taxpayer that your of-
floe has previously made complete lnvestlgatlon
in the same oase and -haa built up reoords suffi-
cient to justify the aeaeesment and closing of
the case.
Texas Unemployment Compensation Comm:selon, Page E
ml In most of such oaeee the taxpayer lnalsts
that he does not have in his files the oomplete
data covering the audit. In such oases it would
be of great assistance to thls offloe If we were
privileged to obtain from you a transorlpt of
your audit, or if we were prlvlleged to review
your files in the case and obtain the neoeesary
1nfor:mtIon to serve as a basis for aseesement
of the taxee.
“1.t will be appreciated if you will take
thle matter up with the proper authorities and
advlee what steps should be taken In caees of
thl~ oharscter where we find It neoeosary to oall
upon your office for such assistance. ’
*We shall appreciate your oplnlon as to
whether this Commission may make Its records
available to Mr. 80&‘&&l&l for the pumoeee ln-
dloated in hls letter.. In thls connection your
attetitlon 1s dlreated to &Ib6eOtiOnS 11 (ej and
11 (1) of the Texas Uuzh@ployment Compensation
Act (Artlole 5221b-9 (e) anff Q(l) Vernon’s Re-
:,. vleed,,,C~vll %atuteo). *
Article 52Plb-9 (e), Vernon's Annotated Retleea
Civil Statutea of Texas , provides aa folk owe with respect
to the recordr and reports involved in your Inquiry:
*Records anU Reports: Eaoh employing unit
shall keep true and aocurate employment reoordr,
oontalnlng such information as the Commlsslon
may prescribe and which 1s aeeeed necessary to
the proper admlnlstratlon of thla Act. Suoh re-
cords shall be open to lnspectlon and subjedt .
to being oopled by the ~ommlsslon or Its aaaM$pr-
Iced representatives et any reasonable time and
ae often as may be ncessary. The Commission
may require from any employing unlt any sworn
or unsworn reports, with respect to persons em-
ployed by It, whioh the CornmissIon deems nec-
esFary for the effect5.ve administration of this
Act. Information thus obtslned shall not be
published or be open to public lnepectlon (other
veee ln the Dermoe OZ.
in any manner revealing
.- the emploglng unit’s identity, but any ol+.mant
-
Texas Unemployment Compeneatlon Commlsslon, Page 3
at a hearing before an appeal tribunal or the
Commission shall be supplied with lnrormatlon
from such records to the extent neoessary for
the proper presentation of his claim. Any em-
ployee or member of the Commission who violates
any provision of this seatlon shall be fined
not less than Twenty (Ir20.00) Dollars, nor more
than Two Hundred ($~oo.oo) Dollars, or imprison-
ment for not longer than nlnety ~(90) d.ays,or
both.” (Undersoorlng ours)
Our opinion Ho. O-2416, directed to you under
date of June 14, 1940 held that your wte Health Officer
oame within the exoeption to the denial of pub110 lnapeo-
tlon of the records and reports aee%rlbea in the abovei
quoted statute, beoause suoh records were sought in further-
anoe of the pub110 .health and the control of ocoupatlonal
health hazards, and he was therefore a public employee in
the performanoe, of hls pub110 duties. Although, in the
opinion referred to, the request to examine the reoorde
ic‘- aid not emanate aireotly from a federal officer or agenor,
as in the lnetanoe caee, it was nevertheless apparent from
the factual statement submitted that the lnformat$oa sought
and galne% fr~om Ahe reoords and ,repoYts OS’the Unemploy-
ment Comoeneatlon Commission aotuUly and u&tlmately, and
through the medium of the State aealth Offloer of Texas,
came into the knowledge and possession of a federal board
or agency, namely the United States Pzzbllc Health Servloe
of Washington, D. C., which was oooperatlng with the State
Department of Health upon a program of health promotion
and conservation among the Industrial groups. To draw the
analogy oloser, the United States Pub110 Health Servloe
was or anlzed under the Federal Security Administration
under g itle 6 of the Social Security Act, while the Cal-
lector of Internal Revenue in the instant oaee is seeking
to use the reoorde in question to oolleat the federal un-
employment tax under Titles VIII and IX of said Social
Seourlty Act.
Therefore upon the Drlnclple established in
the opinion mentloneh and upon the bare text of the stat-
ute (whloh does not limit the opening of the records to
pub110 employees of the State) we are inclined to accord
a liberal and enlarged oonstruotlon to this exception to
secrecy of the reoorde, and hold that the term *publlo
employees in the performance of ~&BP public duties” ln-
.- oludes as well ae proper state officials, sll federal of-
ficials, boards and agenoles, whose public or statutory
Texas Unemployment Compenaatlon CommIesion, Page 4
duties under the Conetltutlon of the United States or Aote
of Congress bear some reasonable and proper relatlon to
the Soolal 3 eourlty Program, as related to Unemployment
Compensation Ineurance, as aa to render the records and
reports of the Unemployment Compensation GommIsssIon or Texas
neoessary and proper for their examination andlnspeotton.
Thea conclusion ia fortified. by the following
provisions of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act:
Article 5221b-9 (I) *State-Federal Coopera-
tion: In the administration of this Act, the
CornmIssIon shall cooperate to the fullest extent
ooneletent with the rovlslons of this Aot with
the Social Seourlty 8 aard, created by the bclal
Securfty Aot, approved Auguet 14, 1935, as amend-
ed;. . . .*
Article 5221b-9a". ; . .
*The CommIseIon~may afford reasonable oo-
operation with every agency of the United States
charged with the administration of any unemploy-
ment insurance law. . . . ,* ,,
The Federal government and the various states of
the Union, Including the State of Tedas, are engaged ln a
program of cooperation and mutual seslstanoe for the per-
manent solution of the recubrent problems of unemployment
common to both soverel.ntIes. An examination or Titlee VIII
and If of the Feeera -iioolal Seourlty Act, under which the
taxee Fought to be aeseaee& by the Collector of,Internal
Revenue are levied, demhnstrates that aame'were enacted by
Congress ae an Inducement to the v::rIous states to enaot
similar legislation for the relief of unemployment,-beoause
a credit against t&e Federal tax.i.8 allowed'to employing
units of the'varlous states for taxes paid to,state agencies
under state Unemplpyment Compensation Acts. Moreover,
Title III of the Social Security Act prcvides for grante-
In-aid to the various states for Unemployment Comrensetion
admInistratIve expenses..
Therefore, we see that the ebove-quoted provisions
of the Texas Unemployment Compensltlon Act are but declara-
tory of the common purpose of the State tin8 Federal govern-
zents to mutually assist and cooperate one with the other,
C
in the furtherance cf the Social Security Program. Assistanoe
-
Texas Unemployment Compensation Commlselon, Page 5
and cooperation to and with the Collector of Internal Bev-
enue for the First Collection District of Texas along the
lines requested by him, Ie tantamount to oooperatlon with
the Social Security Board, In keeping with this declared
policy of the State; because said offIoIa1 In seeking re-
oorde to faollitate the assessment and oolhotlo of theee
sooial security, taxea, 1s acting for the Soolal 8 eourlty
Board in the effective administration of the Soolal Seour-
lty Act.
It Ie therefore our opinion that the Texas Unem-
ployment Compensation Conmlsalon may properly and legally
flermlt and allow Bon. Frank Soofleld, Colleotor of Internai
evenue for the First Colleotion Dletrlot of Texas, his de-
puties and representatIvea, to lnspeot and review the oom-
plete flies or audits of the Commleelon uron any or all em-
ploying units In this State, or obtain transorlpts thereof,
for them of asseeelng taxes against suoh employing
unite under the applloable provlelone of the SooIal Seourlty
Act.
Trusting the foregoing fully answer6 your Inquiry,
we are
Xourm very truly
ATWIMEX QEBEBALOF TEXAS
By (8) PAT H. NEFF, JR
Pat W. Neil, Jr.
Assistant
PMN:LB
APPROVEDOCTOBER25, 1940 a -
(R) WflALD C. UANN
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
ATPROVED
Opinion Committee
By BWB
Chairman