OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Bon. George 8. Cox, IL D.
State $salth Orrioer
Au&tin, Texa 8
Dear Sir:
Realth and s
d revenue stampa.
ust we oolleotsd
0, registrations
a now raised the
mai use this $5,500.00
e of facts, you ask the opinion of this
tollowlng questions:
8. Whether you can opand th& $54,000.00 as appropriat-
ed by ths Lsgiolature ror the present ilsoal year without be-
ing oheoked by the Comptroller rrom day to day and month to
month to determine ii the earnings of the Bedding Dlrielon
equal its,expenditures.
160
BOIL &Ol?gOiY. COX,F&&e2
3. Xbether, if it be determined that the 35,500.OO
is not available under the appropriation for the present
fiacpl year, that sum will revert to the Goneral Revenue
Sund or ~111 be bald In the General Revenue i‘und to the
oredit of the Bedding plvision subject to being appropriated
at a later date.
The pertinent provisions of Senate Bill 200, Aat. of
the 46th Legislature, Eegular Sesei’.n, are as follows:
t
Yiection a. Proceeds placed in General Fund:
*All moneys obtained from the sale of stamps,
foes and other moneys aolleated in the admlnistra-
tion of this act shall be payable to the department,
and when collected shall thereafter be transmitted
to the State Treasury and be pleaod in the General
Zuundand be appropriated out In such anount that
zay- be deemed neoessary by the Lc::islature. In
the administration cf this enactmeat the regular
departmental appropriation 5511 will be adopted.
“Sea.
Sa, There is hereby appropriated inme-
diately of .the general fund of the State
out
TrOaStUy not otheralse appropriated a sum Or
$lO,OOO.OO to aarry out the purposes and protisions
of this act ror the remainder of the fiscal year
ending Au&ust 31, 1939, such funds to be disbursed
by order or the state Bealth Offiaer and the
Treasurer of this state.
Vet.
8b. The several sums of money hsrein
sgeoified or so muah thereof ae may be necessary,
are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the
State Treasury not otherxlse appropriated to carry
out the purposee and provisions of this act for
the two year period be&inning September 1, 1939,
and ending August 31, 1941: . ..* (Tiere r0ii0w8 an
itemized appropriation for the use of the department,
totaling for the fiscal year ending August Zl, 1940,
the sum or Q34,400.00, and for the fiaoal year end-
ing August 31, 1941, the total SUlc 0r $28,350.00).
*Sec. PC. The expenditure 0r any money8 under
this act shall never exceed the amount of money
obtained from the colleation of money required by
any rs2, permit, lloenss or re;iatration required
by the provialonz of t:,ia act.”
Bon. George W. Cox, ?age 3.
As held in our opinion O-1311, it TRIS contemplated
by the Legislature that, to inaugurate the SovcrnmcntaI
scrvloc ?rovidcd by Senate Bill 200, there should be made
avallnblc for lm~~edlate use by your department, extending
t0 the end Of the .IisOal year,August 31, 1939, the SUBI or
I10,000. ThCr8aftC& lt was contemplated that the dcpart-
ment should be self-supporting, and that the amount or its
expenditures should not exceed the amount of lta rcoclpts.
It hollows, for the reasons stated ln opinion O-1311,
that it Was not intended that the expenditure of the #IG,GGG
original appropriation should be controlled by the reoelpts
oollacted by the Bedding Dlvlslon. The service ncocasarlIy
oould not be inaugurated without cxpcndlturcs being made
prior to the aollcotlon of any receipts by the department,
and to apply Section 80 to the $10,000 appropriation,
thcrctorc, would be to place a construction upon the Act
that would prevent the administration of the not and dcreat
the leglslatlve intent.
It will be observed that the Act does not create a
spcoial “bedding” fund, but provides that the rcoclpts
or the department shall be placed in the Gcncrsl Fund. It
1s intended and provided, by the Legislature, that the
cxpcndlturcc of the Bedding Dlvielon, after August 31 1939,
shall not exceed tbe receipts oollected in administer i ng
the Aot, and, of’ course, that no amount may be expended by
the Bedding Division in cxoess or the maximum fixed by
the Legislature ln the appropriations oontalned in the Act.
The amount of the receipts nnder the Aot~ 1s to be detennlned
from the inauguration of the division, and not from the date
when .lta ;lO,OOO appropriation expired.
The question 1s not one of availability of the reoclpts
or the department prior to August 31, 1939, for expenditure,
but of their availability as a measuring stfok to determine
how much of the money appropriated for the use of the Bedding
Division may be expended by it. There 1s nothing in the
Act requiring that only the recclpts of the division after
Au&ust 31, 1939, may be used to,measure the avallablllty
of appropriated funds ror expenditures, and a reasonable
interpretation of the Aot oompcla the oonclualon that it
was not thus lntendcd by the Legislature.
In response to your second question, you are advlscd
that the limitation placed by the Laeislaturc on the CX-
pendlturc of appropriated funds by the Bedding Dlvlslon,
that such expendlturcs shall not exceed the rcoclPt3 of the
Hon. George X. Cox, Page 4.
dfrislon, of neoceafty rcqulrce that an acouratc ohcok or
the total rcoclpte of the dlvlsion, balanoed against its
total oxpcndlturca, be kept. It follows that'rro warrant
zui~ybe i8eUCd by the Comptroller against your approprlatlona
unless your total. rsoelpts cxoeed your total expenditures
by the amount oi thc.~airant at the tlm its :ssuan&c la
rcqueetcd.
Yours very truly
ATTOFCIEY C2::EFLILOF TEXAE
.
*cp;-Le/ ,
BY
B. W. Fairchild
Aesietant
FG7F:pbp
.,.