OFFICE OF 

THE ATTORNEY ,GENIERAL( 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL July 1, 1947 

Hon. A. 0. Willman oDlnlon No. v-294 

Veterans’ State Service office 

bina Office Building 

Austin 14, Texas 

Be: 

Dear Sir: 

Status o? Veterahs’ State 

service-office 

under H.B; ~: 18, 

50th Legis;, establlshlllg a 

Veterans’ Affairs commls~ion. 

Your statement and request for an opinion are 

In part as follows: 

*On June 12, 1947, Governor Beauford Jester 

signed House Bill No. 18, whleh creates a 

Commlsslon of Veterans Affairs. Thisbill 

was passed In the House with 112 votes and 

In the Senate with 23 votes, making the law 

immediately effeetlve upon the Governor’s 

signature. 

“Seation 11 states In part ‘It Is the lntent and purpose of this Act that the functions heretofore performbed by the State 

Service Office of the State of Texas shall 

be absorbed by the Veterans’ Commlsslon, 

as created herein. 1 

We ‘also quote Section I.2 of the Law: *A&Iproprlatlons. At such time as the funotiona 

and services now performed by the Veterans’ 

State Service Officer, are takea over and absorbed by the Veterans’ Affairs Commission 

hereby created, then all unexpended balanoes 

in all funde heretofore and hereafter appropriated to the Veterans State Servloe Offlae 

are hereby reappropriated to the Veterans’ 

Affairs Commission, to be expended in aaaordante with the prwlsions of the departaental 
Hon. A. 0. Xvillman - Page 2 .(V-294) 

appropriations bills, making the appropriation to the Veterans’ State Service 

Office provided that the Veterans’ Affairs 

Commission shall have the authority to 

change within the total amounts approprlated herein the designation of service officers ana assistant service officers and 

their reassignment to cOnform with any 

changes In the location of Veterans Admlnlstratlon regions, veterans hospitals, and 

similar establishments, and be It further 

provided that the assistant service offlcers designated In the available approprlatlon may be authorized to handle any and 

all veterans claims as ordered by the Veterans’ Gommlsslon. * 

‘QmSlTOR: Is It possible to spend 

any amounts In the name of the Veterans State Service Ofrioe for salaries, travel, supplies, eta. 

“QTJWI’IOB: will It be possible for 

employees of the present Veterans 

State Service Office to be paid salaries In the name of the Veterans 

Affairs ~ommlaslon, and If so, who 

will be the authority responsible 

for signing payrolls, requisitions, 

etc.” 

House Bill 18 of the 50th Legislature areated 

the Veterans’ Affairs Commission of the-State of Texas 

and provides for Its membership, duties, expenses and Dlreator. 

Sections 11 and 12 of said bill read In part 

as r0ii0ws: 

“Intent. It Is the Intent and purpose of the Act that the functions heretofore performed by the State Service Office of the State of Texas shall be absorbed by the Veterans’ Affairs Comm~lon, 

as created herein. 

“Sec. 12. Appropriations. At such 

time as the run&Ions and seivloes now per- 

?ormed by the Veterans’ State Service Of- 
Hon. A. 0. Willman - Page 3 (V-294) 

. 

~~flcer are taken over and absorbed by the Veterans’ Affalrs Commission hereby created, 

then all unexbendea balances in all funds 

heretofore and hereafter appropriated to the 

Veterahs’ State Service Office are herebyreappropilated to then Veterans’ Affairs Commission . . .” (Emphasis supplied) 

It Is clear from the above wordingof the statute that the Legislature aid not Intend, upon-H. B. 18 becomlzg law, that the Veterans’, State Service Office would 

be lmmedlatelg abolished. It Is manifest from the laaguage 

of the Act that the Intention was that the Veterans’ State 

Service Office would continue to function until H. B. 18 

could become operative, at which time the old ageney would 

be absorbed by the new. In the absenoe of any alreot judlcla’l Interpretation of the language under construotlon, 

the use or the words In their normal sense would seem to 

afford the best guide to the legislative Intent. In thla 

regard, Words and Phrases, Vol. 1, p. 166 defines vabeorb* 

as r0li0w8: 

“To join together, to coalesce, to unite. 

Hoget in his Thesaurus classifies the word 

foomblnel as synonyfsous with or belonging 

to the same class as unite; incorporate; 

amalgamate ; absorb; blend; merge; fuse; 

eentrallze; melt ,lnto’ one; to put together; 

to lwnp together . . .” 

Using thls Interpretation as a standard It is obvious that 

the Legislature meant that the Veterans’ State SeniOe~..Uffloe would continue In existence until, from a standpoint 

or practicability, It could be fused with the Veterans’ Affairs Commlsslon. 

39 Texas Jurisprudence, Sec. 69, p. 132, etatee 

the rule as follows: 

“In oonstrulng a repealing clause, the oourt 

will be governed by the Ordinary rules of 

statutory Interpretation. It will endeavor 

to ascertain and give effect to the legislative latent .* 

59 Corpus Jurls, Sec. 568, p. 948 thus 

states, It: 
Hon. A. 0. iYill~n -,Page 4 (V-224) 

. 

VThe fundamental rule of construotlon, 

to which all other rules are subordlnate, Is that the court shall, by all 

alds~avallable, asoertaln and glve erfeet, unless It Is In conflict with 

constitutional provlalons, or la lnoonslstent with the organic law of the 

state, to the Intention-or purpose of 

the legislature. . ." '. 

An analogous situation was presented In an 

Instance where the Legislature -- as It has done on red 

peated oocaslons ----passed a law that became operative, 

not at the time of the passing of the bill, but at a 

reasonable future date. In the Texas ease of Chambers 

v. Baldwin, 274 s. w. 1011, the court said: 

*The Legislature Is free to fix In eaoh 

aot the time It shall take effect and 

may provide that It shall take effect 

In whole,or In part from Its passage, 

approval, or at a fixed date. . . The 

power to create necessarily includes the 

power to oreate In whole or In part and 

to take effect as determined at an lmmediate or deferred t1me.e 

This principle was also followed In the Texas case of 

Ex Parte Murphy, 11 S. W. 487 where the court said: 

n 

t&G 

. . It was not the legislative lnthat the act should lmedlately 

take effeot, but that It should become 

operative only at a time when It would 

not deprive any county In the district 

two terms or court." 

In the light of the foregoing authorities 

It clearly appears that the Intention of the Legislature 

was to continue the Veterans' State Service Office In 

operatlon.as originally provided for, and with the same 

authority, until Its functions were *taken over" and "absorbed" by the Veterans' Affairs Commlsslo~. 

You are therefore advised that it Is possible 

to spend money In the name of the Veterans' Servioe Office 

for salaries, travel, supplies, etc. as heretofore done, 

and your first question Is answered In the affirmative. 
Hon. A. 0. Willman - Page 5 (V-894) 

By the same reasoning it Is equally ap]7arent 

that the intended absorption of the Veterans’ State Service Offloe by the Veterans’ Affairs Commission contemplates and exjmessly provides for reappropriation or funds 

so as to pay salaries of the present Veterans’ State user-’ 

vice Employees who shall then be entitled to compensation. 

In particular, the designation that the total balanoe shall 

be turned over without directing a speolflo mode of spending Is lndloative of the faot that the new.ponualsslon shall 

have wide discretion ih uging .lts funds. It wlll have 

these”balancbs at Its disposal but will not be bound by 

the specific allotments under the appropriation to the Veterans’ State Service Office. In other words, at the time 

the Veterans’ Affairs Commission begins to function; the 

reappropriated funds will be handled as If the Legialafure 

had appropriated the funds to It In the first instance. 

The new agency Is empowered to make changes and reasslgnmerits, but will, of course, be bound to pay present employees for services rendered under the now exlating system. 

The Veterans’ State.Servlce Office la 

authorized under H. B. 18~, 50th Legis., to 

oontlnue,to function as such with authority 

to make expenditures in the’nsme of the Veterans’ State Servloe,. Office, until It oan be 

“taken over* and wabeorbedW by the Veterans’ 

Affairs Commlsslon. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: ATTORNEY GBFlEBBL OF TEEM 

i!$ihk& BY’ 7fLuw 

Ro.ert A. Hall 

Assistant 

RAH:ff :wb