GBRUD c. Au8rrus 11. -
Mr. Tan C. King
StateAuditor
Austin,Texas
Doar Sir: o&ion No. O-550
Ret Appropriation Bill 45th Lsgis-
rati+, 1957, Sec. 2(a) - Institu-
tG~'Reoeipts -- Board of Con-km1
pruohaseo.
;* Ik~hns'your latterOiXovember 9, 1929, requestingaa opiaion
upont;hefollorrlng~qu&i~mr~
"(1) Is fhe~'re&imnmt that suppliesmd equip-
&t-f& &oh ltitittiti6ak
'be'w&aa6d througkthe
Board of Eontro~,equallyapplicablefo saoh purohases
.a8 ars @aid.forout oft~~tutlonal~moeipts, under
the l utbori* of~eaid~‘S&tion2(a) ofths App?opriation
bt? ,- : ~'
'"(2) In the~~e&eptlonto .that~Yequirameat,mlat-
ing to-*@r$atly perishablegOode*;the only exaeption
non-info~pe,other Fan eat~++red of in the next
qwstlon?
*(S) Does %he la& aeatenoe of said Subseotion15
in the appmprtitioa Aot serve tot& suoh institutions
out bf its operationtotha ertent that they am thereby
Qppowered~toooatraotfor pririting and stationeryto be
used for adminietratiwpurposes,and not to be used or
.~.~. .In
prOOeSS8d
. anyway by+leJirowa printingp1ant?"
We lug to advise that gour firat.questioa
rhouldbe ansmured
-yes." .,.
_ -
Sootlon 2(h) of the Gelleral
Apqropriation
4ot (46thLeg., Goa.
8,s. p. 94%) doolareaa'. .c.
~~"That~all~luian6e~laths in6tifutional punds of
ths sewral~Stato'institutions nPmod~ln this Aot,at
the 'ObSii OT the fisoaly8W endiag~Au@,u&Sl, 1937,
iaoludfagbalanoosin their revolvingfunds at that
time, and the entire inoometo said funds duringeach
of the tw fisaalysars~endingAugust 31, 1929, and
August 51, 1929;which are not otherwiseappropriated
for eitheror both of said~fiscalyears are herehJr
Hon. Tan C. ging, Page 2 (0450)
appropriatedfor the support,~maintwnanoo,oper-
ation,and improvsmentof said &ate institutions
during sash of the said fisoalyears, respectively."
Article624, R.C.S.,declares:
"The Bard of Controlshall Rwohase all the
suppliesused by each Departmentofthe &ate Govorn-
smut, includingths State Prison System,apd eaoh
eleamosynaryinstitution,Emsal sohool,Agrioultur-
al and MsohanioalCollege,Universityof Texas,and
each slidall otherState Sohooleor Deparbpentsbfthe
State Go&meat heretoforeorhereafteroreated.
Suoh rrUpP1ieSto dnoludofurnitureand PMmes, teoh-
:‘. nisalinstrumentsaod.Imaks,andall other things
requiredbythedifforent departmentsor institutions,
exospt striotlyperishablogoods."
Art1010 642 furtherprovidee: .
Vho Board shrllooafrpatf~r~1supplios,melc
ohandiseand artiolosof everyddesoription needed for
the ~<e&noa and op&atioiiof &oh institutions,
c oxoeptthose suppliesdesignatedas $srishaUe, and
suppliesof a specialoharaotor,a8 books for libraries
and suppliesfor tho labsratorieeand laboratorynork
and inati%mtioa,and rqg spso3alsuppliesfor iaetruo-
tion, damon8tratioaand rosoarohfor oduoatioaal~in-
stltutioas,to'bj desd.@iateda's"Speoial6uppliesfor
Edu~ati&al Institutions.*The Board shallbabe its
soatraatsupon estbnatosto bs f%rnishedthe RoaH by
the superintendents,by the first of AprU of oaoh year,
for the entireyear.?
Those and other gone& statutesmake clear the state polioy
that the Board of Coxitrolshall oontraotfor the purohaseof suppliesfor
our State dopartmoatsand institutions whore spesial exeoeptioais not
othersbe made,. __
So that, if Seotion2(a) of the la& appropriation
4ot oould
reasonablyreosirethe interpr&ationthat it nas soatemplatedsuoh balances
shouldbs expendedin puroha808by institutiona,it muld not requirethat
oonstFwtL&, for~lt muld put the AppropriatidaAot in ooafliotwith the
generalrtatutos~abovequotod,and it is well settledthat an appropriation
bill ssnnotrepeal or impairthe foroe of a generalstatute.
Bon. Tm C. King, Pags S (o-550)
Your secondquestionshouldlikswisebs answered*yss,"for
"strictlyperishablegoods"ars exoeptsdfrom the provisionsof Artiole
654 above quoted.
Subsection(13) of Section2 of ths Appropriation
&at referred
3 is as followsr
to in your questionNoJo.
"All printingand stationeryshallbe purohased
throughthe Boardof Controlaad shall bs confilledto
such articlesand quantities6s seleotedand oontraot-
ed for by said Board,except said printingprovidedby
lawto bs dollebp severalof the State iastitutlon6.
Ho ss0msaodor eagrsxedprintingor stationeryshall
be purchased. This subsostionshallnot be applioaU6
to q in6titutioawhi6hoperate6its 01111printing
plant.'
The obviouspurposeof this subssstionisto exssptthose State
institutionsthat ars authorizedb generallaw tu print suohthiags, from
ths requimmoatthat all printingand stationeryfor the State dspartmonts
and institution6shall be puPohased~thronghth6 hoard of Csntrol. Itnas
not tiaPnt~theieby‘to'aut&riso those institutionsemponsrsdto dosuoh
printingto make'smtraotfor purchaseof printingand 6tatioasrytobe
usod'foradministration purposssand not to bs used or prooossodin any
iiay* their own ~prtiing plant. In other lards,theexoeption oontained
in'thelast sentenceof Subseotioc(lS)was meant to authorisosuoh
institutions to do printing(as by gsnsrallaw they haw been authorised)
I& not to contract for the purohaseof printingand stationerg- this
IsIng for ths Board.
very truly yours
ATT.OREEYGEEER4LOFlEUS
_
OoiS Spear
Assistant
0S:UR:egw
APPRQVBDmv 17, 1939
/s/ GERAiD C. ldA?TB
&TTORNBYGEXEUL OF TExhs
OpinionComittoe
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