THEATTORNEYGENEOF 7JYExAs 

AUSTIN~~.~XAS 

W’ILL WILSON 

A1TORNEY GENERAL July 20, 1961 

Honorable J. M. Falkner 

Commissioner 

Department of Banking 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. WW-1095 

Ra: Whether the Position Classification Act of 1961 is applicable to 

the Finance Commission, the 

Dear Mr. Falkner: 

Bankings Department, or the Savings and Loan Department. 

In your letter of June 1, 1961, you request the opinion of this 

office as to whether the Finance Commission and the Banking and Savings and Loan’ Departments are to be governed by the Position Classification Act of 1961 ,(Acts 1961, 57th Leg. I p* 238, ch. 123), adopted 

April 26, 1961, to become effective September 1, 1961. 

Section 2 of said Act reads in part as follows: 

“Sec. 2, All regular, full-time salaried employments within the departments and agencies of the State 

specified in Article III, . . . of the bianniel Appropiiations Act, shall conform with the Position Classification 

~Plan hereinafter described and with the salary rates and 

provisions of the applicable Appropriations Act commencing with the effective date of this Act, with the exceptions 

and deferments hereafter provided in this Section. 

“Effective January 1, 1962, all regular, fullutime 

salaried employments in executive or administrative agencies of the State, regardless of whether their funds are 

kept inside or outside the State Treasury, shall also conform with the Position Classification Plan hereinafter 

described and with the salary rates and provisions of the 

General Appropriations Act with the axcsptiona hereinafter 

provided in this Section. 

YSpecifically excepted from the Position Clarsification Plan hereinafter described are . . , such other positions 
Hon. J. M. Falkner, page 2 (WW-1095) 

in the State Government as have heretofore been or as may 

hereafter be excluded from such Position Classification 

Plan . . . 

plied) 

by direction of the Legislature. “‘(Emphasis supThe question to be resolved is whether these Departments have 

been excluded from the Position Classification Plan by direction of the 

Legislature. 

Article 342-112, V.C.S., (T exas Banking Code of 1943), has, 

since 1951, read in part as follows: 

II 

. . . Fees, penalties and revenues collected by the 

Banking Department from every source whatsoever shall be 

retained and, held by said Department, and no part of such 

fees, penalties and revenues shall ever be paid into the 

General Revenue Fund of this State. All expenses incurred 

by the Banking Department shall be paid only from such fees, 

penalties and revenues, and no such expense shall ever be a 

charge against the funds of this State. The Finance Commission shall adopt, and from time to time amend, budgets 

which shall direct the purposes, and prescribe the amounts, 

for which the fees, pskna]Lties and revenues of the Banking 

Department shall be expended; . . *‘I 

Article 342-205, V. C. S. ) relating to the savings and loan functions of the Finance Commission, was amended during the 57th Legislature by H. B. 91 (Acts 1961, p. 393, ch. 198), which creates a Savings 

and Loan Department operating in essentially the same manner as the 

Banking Department. This amendment was passed May 11, 1961, to 

become effective September 1, 1961. Subsections (b) and (b) of Section 

2 of the amendmg act read in part as follows: 

“(bj . . . The Deputy Savings and Loan Commissioner, 

the Savings and Loan Examiners and all other officers and 

employees of the Savings and Loan Department shall receive 

such comgensa~tion as is fixed by the Finance Commission 

which shall be paid from funds of the Savings and Loan Department. ” 

“(h) . . *All expenses incurred by the Savings and 

Loan’ DepartmenU sbaSP be paid only from such fees, penalties, 

charges and revenues, and no such expense shall ever be a 
Horn J. I& Falkner, page 3 (WW-1095) 

charge against the funds of this State or the funds of the 

Banking Department. The Finance Commission shall adopt, 

and from time to time amend, budgets which shall direct 

the purposes, and prescribe the amounts, for which the 

fees, penalties, charges and revenues of the Savings and 

Loan Department shall be expended: . . . It 

The primary obje&ive sought in.construing an act to determine its 

proper meaning is the ascertainment of the legislative intent; and, as 

stated in 39 Texas Jurisprudence, at page 172: 

“An important rule to be observed in statutory interpretation is that an act should be given a fair, ratio-l, 

reasonable and sensible construction, considering its language and subject matter, and with a view to accomplishing 

the legislative intent and purpose. In other words, construction should comport with common sense and justice, and 

irrational conclusions or deductions should be avoided. ” 

We are of the opinion that the Legislature considered that tlae Finance 

Commiss,ion and the Banking Department had been previously excluded from 

the Position Classification Plan under the language of Ar~ticle 342-112, 

quoted above, and that the enactment of H. B. 91, containing specific language directing that all personnel affiliated with the new Savings and Loan 

Department are to be compensated~from funds of the Saving8 and LoasiDepartment in amounts fixed by the Finance Commission, is further evidence 

of the legislative intention to exempt these Departments from the Position 

Classification Plan. To decide otherwise would be to say that the Legislature approved the Position Classification Plan on April 26, 1961, and two 

weeks later approved and included meaningless provisions relating to 

salary disbursements in the amendment to tbn Banking Code. 

“The rule that statutes in parimateria will be constnued together applies with peculiar force to acts passed at 

the same session of the Legislature, and with even greater 

force to acts passed at the same time. It is presumed that 

contemporaneous statutes are actuated by the same policy 

and imbued by the same spirit. Accordingly they will be 

read together, each in the light of the other, as though they 

were embraced in one act or were supplementary to each 

other. 

“The several acts will be harmonized and each will 
Hon. J. h& Fallmer, page 4 (WW-1095) 

be upheld and given effect unless their provisions are 

absolutely repugnant. ” 39 Tex. Jur. 258, Statutes, 

§ 137. 

SUMMARY 

The Position Classification Plan, established by 

the Position Classification Act of 1961, does not apply 

to the Finance Commission and the Banking and Savings 

and Loan Departments. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

DDM/pe 

APPROVED: 

OPINION, COMMITTEE: 

Morgan Nesbitt, Chairman 

Elmer McVey 

John Reeves 

Milton Richardson 

BY 

Dudley D. @Calla 

Assistant Atiorney General 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Houghton Brownlee