OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Bon. George 8. Cox, IL D. 

State $salth Orrioer 

Au&tin, Texa 8 

Dear Sir: 

Realth and s 

d revenue stampa. 

ust we oolleotsd 

0, registrations 

a now raised the 

mai use this $5,500.00 

e of facts, you ask the opinion of this 

tollowlng questions: 

8. Whether you can opand th& $54,000.00 as appropriated by ths Lsgiolature ror the present ilsoal year without being oheoked by the Comptroller rrom day to day and month to 

month to determine ii the earnings of the Bedding Dlrielon 

equal its,expenditures. 
160 

BOIL &Ol?gO iY. COX, F&&e 2 

3. Xbether, if it be determined that the 35,500.OO 

is not available under the appropriation for the present 

fiacpl year, that sum will revert to the Goneral Revenue 

Sund or ~111 be bald In the General Revenue i‘und to the 

oredit of the Bedding plvision subject to being appropriated 

at a later date. 

The pertinent provisions of Senate Bill 200, Aat. of 

the 46th Legislature, Eegular Sesei’.n, are as follows: 

t 

Yiection a. Proceeds placed in General Fund: 

*All moneys obtained from the sale of stamps, 

foes and other moneys aolleated in the admlnistration of this act shall be payable to the department, 

and when collected shall thereafter be transmitted 

to the State Treasury and be pleaod in the General 

Zuund and be appropriated out In such anount that 

zay- be deemed neoessary by the Lc::islature. In 

the administration cf this enactmeat the regular 

departmental appropriation 5511 will be adopted. 

“Sea. Sa, There is hereby appropriated inmediately out of .the general fund of the State 

TrOaStUy not otheralse appropriated a sum Or 

$lO,OOO.OO to aarry out the purposes and protisions 

of this act ror the remainder of the fiscal year 

ending Au&ust 31, 1939, such funds to be disbursed 

by order or the state Bealth Offiaer and the 

Treasurer of this state. 

Vet. 8b. The several sums of money hsrein 

sgeoified or so muah thereof ae may be necessary, 

are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the 

State Treasury not otherxlse appropriated to carry 

out the purposee and provisions of this act for 

the two year period be&inning September 1, 1939, 

and ending August 31, 1941: . ..* (Tiere r0ii0w8 an 

itemized appropriation for the use of the department, 

totaling for the fiscal year ending August Zl, 1940, 

the sum or Q34,400.00, and for the fiaoal year ending August 31, 1941, the total SUlc 0r $28,350.00). 

*Sec. PC. The expenditure 0r any money8 under 

this act shall never exceed the amount of money 

obtained from the colleation of money required by 

any rs2, permit, lloenss or re;iatration required 

by the provialonz of t:,ia act.” 
Bon. George W. Cox, ?age 3. 

As held in our opinion O-1311, it TRIS contemplated 

by the Legislature that, to inaugurate the SovcrnmcntaI 

scrvloc ?rovidcd by Senate Bill 200, there should be made 

avallnblc for lm~~edlate use by your department, extending 

t0 the end Of the .IisOal year,August 31, 1939, the SUBI or 

I10,000. ThCr8aftC& lt was contemplated that the dcpartment should be self-supporting, and that the amount or its 

expenditures should not exceed the amount of lta rcoclpts. 

It hollows, for the reasons stated ln opinion O-1311, 

that it Was not intended that the expenditure of the #IG,GGG 

original appropriation should be controlled by the reoelpts 

oollacted by the Bedding Dlvlslon. The service ncocasarlIy 

oould not be inaugurated without cxpcndlturcs being made 

prior to the aollcotlon of any receipts by the department, 

and to apply Section 80 to the $10,000 appropriation, 

thcrctorc, would be to place a construction upon the Act 

that would prevent the administration of the not and dcreat 

the leglslatlve intent. 

It will be observed that the Act does not create a 

spcoial “bedding” fund, but provides that the rcoclpts 

or the department shall be placed in the Gcncrsl Fund. It 

1s intended and provided, by the Legislature, that the 

cxpcndlturcc of the Bedding Dlvielon, after August 31 1939, 

shall not exceed tbe receipts oollected in administer i ng 

the Aot, and, of’ course, that no amount may be expended by 

the Bedding Division in cxoess or the maximum fixed by 

the Legislature ln the appropriations oontalned in the Act. 

The amount of the receipts nnder the Aot~ 1s to be detennlned 

from the inauguration of the division, and not from the date 

when .lta ;lO,OOO appropriation expired. 

The question 1s not one of availability of the reoclpts 

or the department prior to August 31, 1939, for expenditure, 

but of their availability as a measuring stfok to determine 

how much of the money appropriated for the use of the Bedding 

Division may be expended by it. There 1s nothing in the 

Act requiring that only the recclpts of the division after 

Au&ust 31, 1939, may be used to,measure the avallablllty 

of appropriated funds ror expenditures, and a reasonable 

interpretation of the Aot oompcla the oonclualon that it 

was not thus lntendcd by the Legislature. 

In response to your second question, you are advlscd 

that the limitation placed by the Laeislaturc on the CXpendlturc of appropriated funds by the Bedding Dlvlslon, 

that such expendlturcs shall not exceed the rcoclPt3 of the 
Hon. George X. Cox, Page 4. 

dfrislon, of neoceafty rcqulrce that an acouratc ohcok or 

the total rcoclpte of the dlvlsion, balanoed against its 

total oxpcndlturca, be kept. It follows that'rro warrant 

zui~y be i8eUCd by the Comptroller against your approprlatlona 

unless your total. rsoelpts cxoeed your total expenditures 

by the amount oi thc.~airant at the tlm its :ssuan&c la 

rcqueetcd. 

Yours very truly 

ATTOFCIEY C2::EFLIL OF TEXAE 

*cp;-Le/ . , 

BY 

B. W. Fairchild 

Aesietant 

FG7F:pbp 

.,.