, R-521

=E ATTOKNEY GENERAL.

Q,P TEXAS

AUemIN 11. -rExAla

June 12, 1947

Honorable Geo. B. Sheppard Comptroller of Public Accounts Austin, Texas Opinton No. V-240 Re: Effective date of appropriatlon provided in 3. B. Dear Mr. Sheppard: 351

Your letter request reads as followa: "SenateBill No. 351,Acts of the 50th Legislature, Increases the salary of theAssistantDistrict Attorney of the 72nd Judicial District of Texas and authorizes said salary to be paid out of the General Revenue Fund of the State. This bill carried thfi' emergencyclause and passed eachHouse by'a record vote, msking it effective uponMay 20, the date it was approved by the Governor. The bill also carries the Comptroller'sCerUficate to the effect that the amount appropriated therein comeswithin the estimated available revenue. "But upon reading Section 3, there Is some doubt in this departmentas to whether the bill in fact mskes an appropriation for the two-yearperiod beginning May 20, 1947, and endingMay 20, 1949. "I shell thankyou to advisewhether or not the bill makes the appropriationavailable lmmedlatelg." You also furnished us with a copy of S. B. 351. This copy does not show that it passed the House by the necessary emergencyvote. It also containsa Committee Admendment, that strikes out all of Section 3, and lnserts In lleu thereof an entirely differentprovision as to the payment of the salary OF said assistant.Honorable Geo. B. Sheppard - Page 2

However, we examined S.B. 351 'assigned by the Governor and find that It finally passed both houses by the necessary emergencyvote, and that such bill passed as originallyenactedby the Senatewithout such amendment.

Section 3 of S.B. 351 reads as follows: 9ec. 3. The AssfstantDistrict Attorney In the 72nd Judicial District of Texas shall receive an annual salary of Thirty-EightHundred ($3800.00)Dollars,payable monthly, out of the General Revenue Fund of the state not otherwise appropriated,upon the sworn account of such AssistantDistrict Attorney,approved by the Dlstrlct Attorney of said 72nd Judicial Dlstrict.g Section 6 of Article VIII of the Texas Constitutionprovides that:

n'. . . no money shall be drewn from the treasurybut In pursuance of specific appropriationsmclde by law; nor shall any appropriation of money be made for a longer term than two years, except by the first legislature to assemble under this constitution,which may make the necessaryappropriations to carry on the government until the assemblage of the sixteenth legla1ature.l
. . .* The question arlses, does Section 3 make an appropriation to pay the salary of said AsslstantDistrict Attorney? It 1s clear that an appropriationten be msde other then in the generalappropriationbill. !I ;t;tet$y the SupremeCourt in Pickle v. Finley,

. . : "It Isalso true that no specificvords are necessary ln order to make an appropriation;and that an appropriationwy be wde by lmplicatl&'when the language employed leads to the belief that suchwas the Intent of the leglsleture." 'Ihe Conrt inNichols v. Comptroller, 4 Stew. end PI 1% held that an appropriationhad been made when the law which fixed the salerg; in questionues couched in the following language: A salary of $1,749, to be paid quarterly out of any money not othellrlse approprla.ted".,

Honorable Geo.H. Sheppard - Page 3

The Supreme Court In Pickle v. Finley (supra)in approving said holding said: "Thephrase 'nototherwise appropriated'means not appropriated, to any other purpose than here Is appropriated,and clearly impliesan Intent to wke a present appropriation."

It Is, therefore, our opinion that S.B. 351 mskes the appropriationavailable lmmedlately. SUMMARY S.B. 351 wkes an appropriation of Seventy Six Hundred ($7600.00)Dollars to pay the salary of the AssistantDistrict Attorney of the 72nd JudicialDistrict of Texas for the two year period beginning on the 20th day of May, 1947, and ending on the 19th day of May, 1949. Your very truly, A=BEBEBALOFTJSXAS
By w U. V. Geppert Assistant WVG/lh