OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GROVER
SELLERS
ATTORNEY
GENEFIN.
Honorable aSo?- 8. Sh&rd
Comptroller of Publlc Aeaouata
Austin, Tour8
mar Sir: opinion no. O-6615
Re: Valldlt~ o? R.IQ 303, Xegu-
lar Sea~ion, l%rty-uiuth~
Thgislature, coaoernlag rp-
poprlat;lfm8E9r i$heState
Sol1 ~~eePv~~~oo\,Boerd.
/
Your letter OS May ‘4, 19& reqi&twg th~oplalon
of thin depmtrnt 68 the valldlty4f Xfouae Brllw awl re-
gardlng the effoot of the Statu&6 of Ll&$tatlom upoq tb8 right
of tba bglalature l
to pproprlite,.&i~~ *,a reoeloed.~.,~,,,X’he
letter IF3eet out lo full as’~oll,,ovr:
\\ / ,J
“Tbb rUtute,~em3atln&,thd&.d Soil Coneerv-
atloa Board. wtb out ‘a psr ‘&&em Xbr membersbf the
maxd 8ud fop~~su~?lser8 at’$b.BP per day. It al-
IJOrpeelflo&ll~~pr~tdes for ‘floe ents per mile
for travelQ&g each utiy,bctueen ‘th ‘F, e8ldence of
the eupeml&vr and thwdedsilgnatedbuslnem8 office
at&yes: @de* normal fuuctloaa of the pogrm,, the
~ppreprfatlon~: r0p~eaah purpoee* for ths premmt
bieaaU&aq.-erhaorted. Tb ~Aetlvklag th j lp p r o -
priitlorr it& the above mileage mid per dlem,alro
oar+&" follqrlng pwlrlaar
“Who ipQvopriatlona”&iii p+ovlded 8ro to
h cowtrued am the maxi&&mmamato be wbpro-
pl6ted to aad for the nreral purpom8 named
herein, mui the amounts are intended to cover
ad ahall cover tb emtS.reeo8t o? the rerpec-
tire item and ths M- lhall Mt be SupplerUt- : -,,’
edfr o m& a ~ rourcej and, except 48 0-r
o th el
’ .
Honorable Osorge B. Sbvppard, pags 2
VIM provided, no other expswllturem shallbe
mada,nor shallany other obll&atlooe be lo-
ourredby 81~7demrtmeutof thla State, po-
r1dd,howoreP, thatn6thlnghen1n shallpre-
vent say departmaat head from paying lass than
tha ndsum amount8set Sor say 8alariod goal-
t1aa.
%h eB u s1mub
4 3 a 886r r no0lpplicathnt to tbs
Oonrnor for a def'leiane~ appropriation as prorld-
sd for under hrtlale 5351, B.C.S., and no auahde-
flole~y approprlatioo'vas granted.
"Tha 8011 ConurvatloaBoardand aepeunt-
to fuaetlao after
atlvea arnxtlnued the app~oprla-
tlonsfor mlleage 8md per die8 had b&a erhumted,
and araatad alalu tarp both 8llrwe and ps~ diem
.thereby,ati have mda applloatlon to the paasat
Sesafoa af the Legislature for a8 appropriation for
the paymentof swh alalmo.
lThe preunt Loglalrttlre
by House Bill Ro. 303
ukar aa appropriatloaror the StatesoilConaeroa-
tlonBoardto be uwd to par the per diem and mlle-
lga of both the B6wd mmbera and district lupm-
vls@~,rot tha aboveYr&tlOnedalal88.
%e aboveseotloued billaarrles bothan
emrgewy ol8uw and 8 prwmble. The ffrst para-
graph of th8 peedlr readr a8 Sollwar
‘IIBWW, Tkmbtak SoilOonaertatlon
A6t
prorb3es that auprvlsora ny reaelve compea-
utiar HOP wervloornot to lsoeodFourDollur
($4)for.eachday he shallbe lm attendawe at
t&a pegul@s mablagr or the Board of l)upsr+ls-
0~8, and tfte uata (54) par 8lla for travel
-oh ray ktreea the Paaldewo Of 8 8 nfwr
md thv dar&akd bu8ilua8OfilluOf%8 die
8apenim~r &all k mid
*rive coqmosatioaa&alleap ior any8Illlkr
Honorable George H. Sheppard, pege 3
o f dSy 8 in lxeers Of five (5) in any three-
5oatha period; rod’
‘The WmStlOn la ralud in this dapartmmt as
to. whother or not tha aVpropriation made in tha
above mntlowd Eou80 Bill Bo. 303 la valid for
tha follosirrg reasons, to uit:
“1. 18 there suf~lctent pre-existlag law
to outhorim the appropiationt
“2. If therein sufflclant ga-exlatlmg law,
thea is t&n Leglrlatwe prohibited from malcl~
tb8 8pprOpFl8tlOnby roseoILOS t~,pohlbltloa
sst OUt in the OTlglMl SpprOprl8tloa madeby
tha Forty-eighth Legl8latwe for the payment
of mileage aed per diem?
3. Aad for the further reason thst the
Soil Coaurration Board falled to avail itself
of the privilege of a deflolency appr3pria-
tloa grant und6r Artlole 4351.
"C8ath8 bglslatore m8k8a Validappropriation
band upsa pro-existing UT whsa t&m is a statuta~,
of ll8ltatlom la exlatenao (olther geaeral OP ape-
oral) agalwt the payment of a elaln, which claim la
a valid claim, except for the Natate of Llmltatlcmt
In othar uords, dqea’the 8tatute of Llmitatloa de-
fo*t polsrirtl8g fsr In ths rights of .ths Laglala-
ture to appopr%ate?
“In amuer to W inquiry, I rofer you to aa
opinioa written Jttly 28, 1933, ad&owed to tha Hon.
Moore m, gtate Auditor sad Efflclenoy E%pert, by
Assistant Attoro)y @or&era1Wllllr B. Greahaa. Also
Opiaioar 408. O-PUB ad O-r(!J82.m
~ha faotr ‘stat&d in yaw letter Boo that the Board
m ~0lp p l;o a to
tiotbomOovorwr fop a doflaloaot *pgromlx-
t;mt t&pof@ro, if tho Uglslaturs had luthopltr to &mPe iato
8s ;n tb mtant cam, it h8d swh by v*tm of m-xist T Irg
HOrrOrableOeOPgeIf. ShsppSrd, page 4
law a8 coatellptated by 0eatlott 44, Article III of the Cwatitu-
tlOtt of Taxaa, whichprovldoa, in part, as foll~wt
9ha bgfrlatuze . . . ahallnot . . . want
by amrow%atioam er othe~rl~, w amowt of menoy
out of the Treasury of tha Stat0 to any iadivmml,
oa*~aui8,Peal or pPetouded, wbetlm urn rbll
not bya bow pmvldod foe by pro-oxlatlng law.
. . .
Artlole 165o-4, V.A.C.S., the "stat08QllCaQurwa-
tlosaLaw* oro8tod by Aots 1911,47th&ogl8UtuPo ameadl&kg Aots
l939,46th bglalature, prcn~~, maoas other dqp, for the
latabll8hlug of the 9011Counrvatlou Board,outlUer lta datioa,
caspen88t108, do., dLroota tho ee&utloaof utpelrvl8Of8, aad
sets out tha oompenoatlon to ?m pal& tbar, authorius the em-
ploymentOf other agetttr rad o8plOyoer, and provideofor tho
seleotl0o of the County SoilCoororvatloa Comlttoe.
%!Impertlnont
prorlslona
of the atatutoare ehovabe-
1oV:
Suboeotloa
B, 8ectlcm 4, readein partl8 followar
%88bora of 8 Uotmty lloilCouwrrrtioa 00~
mAOtoeahallreeolvono eompewatloafor tlwir80~~
l*orowopt the de&gate to tha Diatrlat Cowoma-
tlott Coavontlon who ehallrooelveMvo (5) Ooata
pop milefor trowelowh vay betveootho Comty
krt ofhir ootmtfaad ahaplaeo whrr tha Dlatrlot
Comontlcmla held *and FourDollar8?$4) per day,
not to oxoeed two t12) daga, to bo PaIdby the btato
S011Coaeomatlon Board.
Submotion D, S6atlott
4, rod8 in pMt W COll0Mt
0 Blutlvo n?uboPO of thmBawd my to-
c*lve Z&atloo r09 theia 8e~rl6am
wt 80 amed the ltm or 208 Dallwa (
to ploohd&yof8otrul aewlco reudmra
amber ahallbeontitledtoerpeuooa8 -1-w
lxpmua,
tr *v*l.ing neoea8arily iworrod 10 t% dim-
0mg0 of his dutlosas a mo*r Of the Board.
J#morable George Ii. *PFd, paso 5
seatian 6 prwldes in part as follows:
” A aupsrvlsor
. . . may receive coqsasa-
tlOn~f(P servlaea not to weed Four Dollar8 ($4)
for each day hs shall be in atteadruroe at tha
reguliu? retlaga of the Board of Supsrvlsor~, and
five (5) Cent8 per allefor traveleachway be-
tosen the resideamof a supervlaor aad the deslg-
nated bwlnsaa office of the dintriot oupsmisors.
Supervlrrora for their
aballbs paidquarterly
services, and may mot reoelve compwwation lttd
alL3aga for any number 0r day-n in exuess of five
(5) la awf t&m-eokth period, exoept that oas
mmber of oaoh Board a? Supervlaore ahall bs sn-
titled to rwolfe Pour Dollars($&)per day not
to oweed two (2) clays, and Five (5) Centspsr
alle uhlle atteadltag an atmual Stats-wide metlag
of lup nr vlmo r8
to be held at a tlm and place to
be dotoralned by tbs State So11 Coaservatloa Board.
The prwlaloa providing Mva (5) Cats pm mile
for travel for district 8upervlSw8 shall be in
effect Ssptoabsr 1, 1941, and thereaftsr.
“The aupervlsorr may employ mushofficers,
agetttr, and employees, pemattettt aad temporary, as
theymay~eqqlro,aad s&lldetermlaethalrquali-
flca~loan, dutlom, ati aampansatlea. . . .”
E, seotiw
Sllbsectlon 5,readmin part as folloust
"Allwneya, fuads, &d seasrltlas~ somLag
into the haadmof the State boll Conwrvatloa
Board shallbo depaslted m the dtato Troasttry
aad placed la ohs Stats Troaswy to the amIlt of
a apeaim fundto bo knoraam the Wata SoilCOO-
aervation Rurd*taM all awh funds,noawe, and
sssuritiss hsroafter depomltod or medtted to rush
fm we horoby lp p t?o p Ptolatheted
uoo urd bo%WfU
of the StateSal1Ooamerva~loa Board *lid YY b, ti
u;d M, ured la the 8U8ittl8~r8tlOa Of and 1~
cc+ap~tume vith thl8 Ibt. . ..
" Boaorable &&go 8. S&e-d, pago 6
of the Supram Court and tha Courts
h~lk~Ioar
NPurour
of CivilAppSlS dlaow8 the asfeet o? Article XII, Seation 44,
of the Caartitutla1 but wo thittk it suffleo to quote fron the
oplniott of tin entnCourt in Ft., Uarth Cavalry Club v. Shep-
pm-d,83 8.W. 660,as follouat
‘It la kttled is t& I&I OS thisrtrta that
undert& prwlaloaa of rratloa44 of utlole 3 OS
OUP btato ~StitUthl, tk hrglrhtu@o is pt'ohib-
ited froragla?op~ting rtato amaey to any @lad+
vldual’ on any ol8lm, uatos, at thn nrr]r tlm tba
8pppqMatlon 18 ndo,the~ola alwaay I8 SOPOO
sanepO-eXl$tlUgValidkw 6~8tltutIttg the elal8
the app?opZatloa la aado to pay a leg81and valid
obllgrtioa agaiuatthe rtato. . i Finally,it
~~.
la uttlod that by legalobllgatlorr is want SWlt
an obliytlon (rswouldformthe ba818of a judg-
mntrgalnmttha state ins court of eapet8mt jw-
ladlatioa,in #a ovmt th# kglaleturo nhould per-
tit ittOb0
SUd. Austinlmloaal Bank1. %hep
pard (Texi
Can.App; ~oplWBtt
edbptd by Supwme
ceurt), 123 Tax.W, 71 r.Y.(Pda) *Wt Anstla
lfatioml Bsikv. sbrppard(T6x.Cow’App. oplnioa
au0 t&l by 8upP.m Co&,~lQ TSX.380,71 S.W.
(WY 346; Cwaloana Cottcm Wfllm v. Sheppard (Tax.
. 09lniw aU tid br 8uprom OotPt) lq
zz: $5T n b F (MT 247~ NlLmolav. Stat: ll
~rm;,o+p.-&7 32 S.W. 45P (nit mfu&
~Zex. Civ.~ ASP.) 163 83. 10bo
(wit rofu8od)j 8tate vi Wllsoa, .TlTSx.391,9
8.Y.15s8
trap or roadtag OS the prov~aiau of &tielo 165a-4,
quoted 8bw0, it is to ba noted th4t oertaln lirit*tima am
q-88 so9 in8taaootbtrppl7l.a8 tomembora of aCotUPty
soil cowervatlott Oonlttu, foW4 3 WbSe8t~8 B8 8utim 4
of tha &tlola,tv~ox'051r it 18 @d, ,‘p ti ?6W -1-S
0x800& two (2) &m.:: .‘+“, SEd tht p6fttOE
p ek tfr
ta y
luptnr via o r n,
dth ma * in p lr t l*
fo llo vr t
Hou0P&bxe CeoPge H. -m-b w&w 7
and my aot rooeive ao8pewmtloa aad
sny fumbw of dsys in ~wxcess0 five
Jy ia SW thrw-month DeP~&.a,.%u&
nrnBer of each Boer of SupePvi.orr shsll b. en-
titled to rse*ivtl ZUP Dollars ($4) per is, s
to exuwd too (P,) dsya> . . . "
With th. .p..%flo lidtation. .pp.mirrg io th. p-
8xiSting tiW, We RU.t p&S 0.t th.t my al&s@ &AD. which
was orested la C0ntrWMktloa oi tha stv'iet 33m%5ti555 kould
not be a olain b555d 5zm pre4xzsti5slav. Bmrw5r, it is to
be ob.er+ed thrt Zfswcr Bill 303 quote. io it. prmwrbl.ea pop-
tioa of Arttcla 165a-4,aotatsfning
a l&mitati.a
o&mm.g thw.-
fore, not hsvlag vlswed a oopy at the orIgIa.1 clsIm,,?& most
pPo.ume, for the puPpo.0 of thi.. opiaioa, thst' t&4 fagislatnrs
did Wtt 5ppr~l8te tb) sum prwldea In House Bill 303 to pay
a clsisl r- upoa 5xpimaditwes m5d5 la eme55 of th5 str2ct
prohibition ol ths Statute.
Ye hsre cs~e,iull~ sxaairna the roregoiag aothorltlts,
aad, la viev of ths intarprstatloa placed upoa Article III,
3eutlon 44, 0r ths Coastitutiioa of %x55, sre of the oplnfou
tbrt Attiooln 1655-4 is a pre4zlstlsg lam vithira the amazing
of ths coastltutioasl jwovistoa, aad thst tiou.. Bill 303 uon-
stltut58 a validexar.1~ of lagislbtiro5uthorlty.
The ~foregoi~ 8nswers aaasstiun lo. 1 of
p5~5graph
pour mqnostt housmr, 8ifiPbo
there 18 ao soatranntlochof the
C~nrtitutiao in the lq&fsl8eln 8ggro&Matloa m&r aaaeidem-
tion, your questtaa Bo. 3 maed aot bs 61s8ussed.
The XiPltatian Imposedby Pu%graphb, Subnatloa
(lfj),a.ct10u 3, oaciePal Pc0vi510a5,
l!ege
1035,Act. 19&S,mh
bgi.lattlr., is cwrwtly quotedin yo.rlettereboro, md will
aot be pexas.t.6
It 18 to be observad tb*t Mit?W S+3tia 2, the
iir ;tr tiop oa r i5ic a 5a o rth elpprowlatioa xmwisloa fwad
.t p.@. 1013, Aot. l&i b&h lagldatam, maw mfemos* to
Artiozo 169-4. Appuentl7 thtm hss beea a0 rtterpt la thb
*pppoprutim act to rep..1 of in uiy m55tmr 1lMt or a..tPoT
r
-
Hsaorable page8
Oeorg.H. Sheppard,
ths plslapovlsioms or Article165a-4. Thisdeptarmt &ma
repeatedly &IA tbt aa sot of appcoprl8tloacsnaothave tha
effedi of repe&lsg5 gelrem statute, sad it h55 10~ b5a.e
aeaud to be s dabat&bleOuestloa tbt St s subssqueat sassloa
of the Le@sl5ture it m5y moaify Or rep81 mats of 5 prior
&gi.l.tuxw.
word. usedin the lfnit5tioa
T& ssatios,linestua
sna three,%everalpu~pows ssnd he~oln,’ refer to *h aot
la uhlshrsshmrds lsqa8ar.for thsrs 15 a0 prerlou5 refereaae
lo t& rider to UplJ o th el
rMeka5Et .
SpsOifia SCt Of ths b6iStitWS requires tb oitioers,
the 3011Csa...ratloa Board,to perforathe&rduties. cLr,tl.le
16%-h oxsate.th. leg.1owigatiw of th. at5te to sapsrmste
for ths dutiespsr?omsdu&d the s~alflce x p o ndltnr luthaw-
es
lsed. The dutyof Mlat5lnla# and uarryiw on la iupooedup011
the Boardby law aad if tbs subsequeut apfPopPlatloa to provide
far thst lsgltlrmte4453neoe555rg purpsssis lasut?ioleat, it is
simplyb.c.~.esuahLegislature PaL1.dla ft. estlmsteof the
/ amountrequiredunder t&s pre-epstlng gsseralstatute.
fa QUP opintoo Ho. O-3118, dlreoted to Oweraor
09sni5l, it was ssidr
‘aivory head oi a degutrmt, SC& evs~gmsssgor
of 5 St5te
lo5tltutl5a,perhapswithouteraeptloa,
is by l&v ulbthed ultb the pwer 05 tlutf of ~aoa-
trtlotbag (15 ths mEnor prosorlbed by law)for as@-
plies,traveli* aad otherthiqs
lx p o n5e5, rm5-
l.nP y ’to
th ep 0g t.r
amini.trat1,oo o r th. aopsrt-
, mat01 or iastiblltloaal lffal.r*.SIvory suahpur-
olmw or erpmdltum b~.u.hpaxmad...l.gall~
oreatea debtsgalast the State, not oalyto the
erteat of the spealils agpsogprlstlrsi t&rotor, but
lik5rl5e to the fsrtlnr e&teat oi any arsualdeti-
oieno~of refeme aut?xulssdby the Legislsture ior
.whparpo.e.m b
tithe@ lo. O-?ll8uas la ~espun55
apllrion ts a8 lb-
quiry p.gu?dbg rtu authority at t& Oaroraar to grent a defi-
~I.~OJ 5ppropwti5m, - twk th5 quoted R-W* ia Oobt
with th5 iasteat qrwstioa.
Hoaorabls George H. Shsppsrd, psge 9
Ia rlsv of the shove, it 15 the oplnioa of this de-
ps-rtmentthet the llaitatlonpovlsion cootalned,La the rider
of the spp-opdbtioa hat of the 48th Lsglslaturs does rrot
uodlfy or Xlalt hh6 sgsalflo ~ovlsioas of ths Osaeral Stat-
ute, ArtLalb 165a-4, ia rush a manor as to destroy its effeat
ig' 5 pm-e%i.ti.g lsv. This 15 la samor to your que5tion Ho.
.
Your l85tqtm5tloa,.relrtl5g 'toth5 effestof a stat-
ute of llmltation upea the authority of the Lsglslaturs to sp-
proplate to pay a claim erlslng un&er a Fe-5xistlag lsv, 15
too geaeral to permlt a direot opiaion of this iiepsrtmnt.
Bovevsr, in your 5upplm5at5l mqufbst, of~Jun5 9, 194S, you
prssented a prtlaular aase uader 5 spsa~flo stat?+ 5136your
y;:tt we aassersd la our Oplaloa 80. O-6363,~approved ltuly
Sine0 your suppleasntsl raqusst apparsatly ritharaws
ti$ geakl questloa ia your first letter, we are aot dissuss-
ing it hero.
Trust,lag that this opialon coasldcrad together vlth
opinion 80. O-6363 utisfsctorlly sasvers your laqulry, ve am
Yours very truly