Dr. Henry A. 'Holle

Commissioner of Health State Department of Health Austin, Texas Opinion No. 

### W-442
Re: The authority of the State Health Department to use funds collectedas fees under Section 92 of the Texas Mental HetilthCode, in spite of the fact that House Bill No. 

### 6 was not submittedto the State Comptroller for certiDear Dr. Holle: fication.

You have requested an opinion concerningwhether fees collectedpursuant to the provisions of Article 

### 5547,Vernon's Civil Statutes,are available for expenditure.

Section 92 of Article 

### 5547,Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides~:"(a)An application fee and a license fee shall accompany the application for a license. If the Department denies the license, only the license fee shall be returned. The application fee is Twentyfive Dollars 

### ($25). The annual license fee payable on August 31, of each year is Fifty Dollars 

### ($50). "(b)All fees collectedunder this chapter shallbe depositedwith the State Treasurer to the credit of the Department.' Section 

### 6 of ArticleVIII of the Constitutionof Texas provides:Dr. Henry A. Holle, Page 2 

### (W-442).

"Nomoney shall be drawn from the Treasury but in pursuance of specificappropriationsmade by law; nor shallany 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 necessary appropriations to carry on the governmentuntil the assemblage of the sixteenthLegislature." This constitutionalprovision controlsall appropriations from the State Treasury, and money not specificallyappropriated by the Legislature cannot be withdrawn from the Treasury. Picklev. Finley 91 Tex. 

### 484,44 S-W, 

### 480 (1898);Lightfoot v.

4 

### 447, $%%n~"WW?% (1957)and WW-275 (19573. 

### 140 S.W. 

### 8g (1911).Attor~yt~q~;ra;on presented is whether the language 'to the credii of the Department" is sufficient language to constitutea specificappropriation pursuant to the provisions of Section 

### 6 of ArticleVIII of the Constitutionof Texas.

An appropriation is a settingapart from the public revenue of a certain sum of money for a specific object in such a manner that the executive officers of the government are authorized to use that money and no more for that object and for no other. Attorney Ceneral@sOpinion

### w-96 (1957)and authorities cited therein, It is noted that the language "to the credit of the Department"does not set apart the fees so deposited for use by the Department,nor does it state the purpose for which the fees, if set apart, could be used.

It is our opinion that such languagedoes not constitute an appropriationwithin the meaning of Section 

### 6 of Article VIII of the Constitutionof Texas, You are,therefore, advised that the fees so deposited in the Treasurypursuant to the provisions of Article 

### 5547are not available for expenditure. SUMMARY Fees collectedpursuant to the provisions of Section 92 of Article 

### 5547,Vernon's Civil Statutes, required to be deposited in the State Treasury have not beenDr. Henry A. Holle, Page 

### 3 (ww-442).

appropriated by the Legislature, and are not, therefore, available for expenditure.

Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas

Sam Blackham Assistant

;x'John Reeves Assistant SB:JR:jl APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman Riley Eugene Fletcher Ralph R. Rash Richard B. Stone REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W, V, Ceppert