OFFICE OF THP: ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable 8. A. 61888, DireCtOr 

Textbook Dlvlrlon 

Department Of SducStiOn 

hatin, Texas 

Dear 811'1 

- Help In dl8t.Fltextbooks. 

21, 1940, request- 

, the letter being 

ary 8tQ,tvo quesyou from this 

the wthorlty of 

to rel&mrre bondtextbook8 in looal 

or expenditure8 lnourcdn vlth the distrlbutlon 

bOOk8 t0 pupils Of the pubIn your OpiniOD Ilo. o-1837, 

al'y 16th End rddl’e88ed t0 the 

f the Pertbook Dlvl8lon, both 

e88 question8 were umvered in the 

~Eovever, Upon prelrentatlon of oerfain ololnm from local bonded tertboolc 

CiU8tOdlti8, vhlch inrOlve parlB8nt for 

labor, the Comptroller rejeoted the pawmnt of the alalms and returned them ~lth 
Honorable a. A. 01a88 - Page 2 

the letter Thlch 18 co led belov: (Ciplee 

of clal~ are rttoched P 

*. il. A. Glars, Director 

Textbook Division 

State Department of Edacstion 

h8tin, tea8 

Dear AU'. Gla88: 

@*I am returrring the maoant of BOPner Frlzaell In the amOunt of $29.33 and 

the account of J. C. latoon in the amOunt 

of $7.eo for the reason I believe they 

are in violation of the iollovlng FovlaIon oi the Departmental Bill plsklng aa 

op~oprlatloa for the Textbook Dlvl8lon 

ThlCh prohibits the employing oi any additlonal employee8 for your dlvlelonr 

*It 1s f?wther worlded that 

the anmnte to be expanded for 

nev textbook8 and reblndlng shall 

be a8 fixed by the State Board of 

Educations provided, however, that 

no employees, In addltlon to those 

listed and lteadzed above, shall 

be eEplopeO.* 

Very truly yours, 

Signed; George Ii. Sheppard 

Comptroller of' public 

Accounta 

Breasler/g 

8Slnce It ha8 long been the ourrtom of 

this Dltl8lon to psy such claim, and 

8bV2.e fu&is are available for the payment 

of current clalm8, this Dlvlslon feels 

the need of further Interpretation of 

this problem. Se therefore respectiully 

request your opinion on the f0110vlng 

question* 

81. Does the rider to the General Ap 

proprlatlon Bill tor the biennium ending 

&lgU8t,31, ls(l, a8 quoted fn t&3 CODID- 
tlonorabls Al. A. Cl088 - Pa&e 3 

troller'8 letter, Obviate the atathorlty 

of the State Board of SduOatlon to pay 

Out Of th8 Textbook btld 811 nSOeS8ary 

expenae8 In conneotlon with the distributlw of free textbooks?’ 

In the general form of yoaw question a8 stated, 

It haa been ana~ered in formar opinion lto. 3091, of date 

liovenher T, lQSQ, addressed to the Honorable Ceor U. 

Sheppard, and opinion lo. C-lSST1, dated January 16, 1940, 

adJlret3sed to you, copies of vhlch opinions you have. 

QbviOU817, the 8peclflC qtle8tiOIt 71th vhich you 

are Qormerned la vhetbtr or not the rider quoted in KP. 

Shoppard~s letter ha8 the efreat to forbid the State 

Board of fklucatlon to pay out of the Textbook Fun3 Items 

of reln&ursement for extra help to llv. Prlzaell aad hr. 

Watson for 8emloe8 in a88i8tiXIg in the dlstrlbutlon Of 

textbooks. So that, TO ~111 amver your question a8 thus 

reetated. 

The Comptroller ha8 docllaed to pep these bills 

upon the grouwl.that the rider to the Appropriation Bill 

puOi&d in his letter forbids such imfment. 

It 18 the opinion of this departinent the rider 

;;;:,zgt have the eifect attributed to It by the Compl We conwend the Comptroller98 vigilance vlth 

r88pQCt t0 the paying Out of plbl1.o mney8, but we hi8- 

agree Tith hi8 con8tructlon of the rider. 

The language which has iippelled the Coieptroller"8 action Is a yvovl80, as f0110~8: 

8 + * 4 prodded, hoTever, that no 

employees, In aMltlon to those 

listed and iteaiiized above shall be 

employed.. 

The acoepted rule of oonstruetlon with respect 

t0 prOtisO8 18 thus stated by &i?. Sutherland 011 Statutory Constructions 
Honorable tl. A. Gla8a - Page 4 

mThho natural and appropriate office 

of the prwieo being to reetraln ok 

qualify so126 preceding mtter, It should 

be CoDfinod t0 That J8WWie8 it llDb88 

It Clearly appear8 t8 have been intended 

to apply to 80~~ other matter. It Is to 

be COD8tNed In oooll6atlon Tith the eectiOD Of vblch it fOrTI a part* and it 18 

8ubetaDtially LO exeaption. If it be a 

pm180 t0 8 PWtiOUlW 8eOtiOll, it doe8 

Dot apply t0 others UDle88 plainly interaded. It should be construed Tith reference to the lmmedlately preceding part8 

Of the elau8e t0 Thich it 18 8ttaehed. 

In other Torde, the prWi80 will be 80 

restritted ID the abeonce of anything la 

it8 tel’ms, Ol' the subject it deal8 Tith, 

erinclng a~ Intention to glre It a broader effect.4 e l 

*Story, J., oaffl he Ta8 led to the 

general lule of 1aT which ha8 alvays preveiled and become oonseorated a8 alTio8t 

a xnaxlm in the interpretation of statutes, that vhen the enacting clause 18 

general in It8 language and objeatr, and 

a pWV180 18 afterward8 lDtmduce!a, that 

protlso 18 striotly construed, and take8 

DO Case out of the enacting clause which 

does not fall fully ~lthln it8 term6.m 

Sutherland on Statutory Construefion 

223, p. 297) 

Applying this rule of COD8tNOtfOD to the statute, 

the pm~i80 above quoted is applioable to the enactment contain& ID the section of Thlch it is a part, to-wit, the erlactment that *all awunta to be expmded for new textbook8 

ad rebinding books shall be as fired by the State Board of 

&lucation.* It Is In respect to these tro item that the 

prwiso forbids enployoes ID sddition to thO8e listed and 

ltamized in the Appropriation Aat. The prOvia has 8 very 

definite a?eani&z Then thus applied t0 that part Of the 8eQtlon imnecllately preceding it, that la, that no employee, 

fn addition to those 118ted a?rl itemized, should be emplged Tith reapect to the expense8 for DeT textbook8 and reblndlng books; ID other words, that the handllng of there 

Items should be confided alone to 801~ of those employee8 

specially listed and itexkzed in the bill. 
r ’ 

klonorablo L. A. GlP80 - Pago S 

It could hardly be contemplated that the 

Act means that in DO WODt EX%y the Board engage employeee, other than thO8e listed a& Itemized, because by item 26, under the hesd of gSalarlesv, 

there is epecially prOTided 'Seaeonal Eelpr Clerloal, atenograpbic and labor, @OOO.OO.m lb18 itrelf 

18 express authority for the employment of clerleal, 

stenograyhlc and labor help beyond tho8e employee8 

liarted in item8 1 t0 26. 

A&D, it 18 our OpiDiOD those &k3r8OD8 alding in the distribution of free textbooks and psia by 

&Jr. Prlssell and hr. 18t8OD, the custodians, are not 

employees ID the 8ense In vhlch that Tord Is ased In 

the proviso. To think it 18 there ueed In the 8en8e 

of persons or employees vhose tenure of eenlce va8 

pernrnent rather than temporary, seaeonal, or.occaslonal. Ua are borne out in this C0DCl~610~ by the 

further rider declaring #all eaployees in the Tertbook Dlvisioa of the Gducatlon Dapartmont shall be 

appointed or removed by the State Superintendent of 

Public Instruction, 8UbjeCt to the approval of the 

State Board of 2ducation.v This bears out the Idea 

that 8ooployeesv, within the meaning of the Act and 

of the prwi80, are such persons as those Those employment Is for a given tenure, and in a sense perwnent , rather than that occaslonal 8ervlce rendered to Frizsell and Fafsonl It is the fapdllar ejusdam gmeris rule of CODStNCtiOn. Any other CODstruction of the Act vould a;akc It 1mposslble for 

the Board to employ a messenger to deliver a consignzcint of books hovever 88811, and yet such sivdlar and inc1deDtal expenses in connection Tith the 

di8tr1bUt1OD of tortbooks Is inevitable. The Leglslature never conterqlated that they were to be forbidden. Such a COD5trUCtiOn would not harawniae v1t.h 

the recoznisod 8~d declared policy of the State to 

furnish md Zstributo toxtboolrs froe of further 

costs. 

lioreover , the rules proscribed by the State 

Board of XuCatiOn Or11 CODtrary t0 8UCh COD8tNOtiOn 

and lnrlicato the CODetNCtiOD Te are giving the rider. 

Thcsc rules among other thiDgS provide for reislbursepent for (1) extra help for a short time, (2) reaeonable drayaga thargee, (3) freight or parcel post 

chargee. ID at least tT0 of these Item8 the elenrent 

of personal eertlce enter8, and In all of them the rs- 
Honorably ii. d. Glass - Fcrge 8 

ldmrecm.nt is of expenseta Incurred in the distrlbution of Woe text books. 

You are therefore advised In the opinion of 

this department the roimburoemant Items of Mr. Friztell aml Ur. Watson should be paid out of the Taxt 

Book Furd. 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNCC!L G~NERATJ 03 TXXM 

OS-KR