Honorable Roy S. Loventhal, Chairman 

Livestock Sanitary Commission 

W. ,T. Waggoner Building 

~Fort Worth, Texas Opinion No.@2388-A 

Re: Reconsideration of 

Opinion No.O-2388 

Dear Sir: 

This department has received your request for a 

reopnsideration or modification of 'Opinion ,No.' o-2388. we 

set out below the applicable portion of your letter of 

original request. 

"Will you please. advise whether or not 

'gection B under head of 'Salaries and Other: 

Provisions' , page 146 Senate.Journal, Rouse 

,Bill 427, Acts of the Regular Session of the 

46th Legislature, forbids cooperative agencies 

such as the Federal Government or .County C,ommissioners' Courts of this State, supplementing the salary of a gtate paid employee. 

"The Livestock Sanitary Commission of 

Texas has employees in the office of the Predatory Animal Division, Bureau of Biological 

Survey, United States Department of the Interior, in San Antonio, that are doing work 

identical to Federal employees In that office. 

"The Federal employees compensation is 

somewhat larger, and the Government or other 

agencies referred to above agree to supplement 

the State paid employees salary in order that 

all those doing the same work in the same office will receive the same compensation." 

Departmental Opinion No.@2388 held as follows'. 

~"This will acknowledge receipt of your 

request for an opinion on the question of 

whether .ornot certain employees of the Livestock Sanitary Commission of Texas working in 
. e.. 

Honorable Roy S. Loventhal, Page 2 

the office of the Predatory Animal Division, 

Bureau of Biological Survey, United States 

Department of the Interior, may have their 

salaries supplemented either by the Federal 

government or by the commissioners' courts. 

"We assume for the purpose of this opinion. 

that the employees referred to are provided for 

and their salaries fixed b the Departmental 

Appropriation Bill of the 1 6th Legislature of 

the, State of'Texas. 

"The ,following pertinent provisions are 

contained in Senate Bill 427, Acts of the 46th 

:..eglslature: 

"'The appropriations herein provided are 

to be construed as the maximum sums to,be appropriated to and for the several purposes 

~named herein, and the amounts are intended to 

cover and shall cover the entire cost of the 

respective items and the same shall not be sup- '~ 

plemented from any other source; and, except 

was ~otherwise provided, no other expenditures 

shall be made, nor shall any other obligations 

be incurred by any department of.this State, 

provided however that nothing herein shall 

prevent any department head from paying less 

than the,maximum amount set forth herein for 

any salaried position. 

"'Limitation of Payments. Except as otherwise provided, whenever, by virtue of the provisions of this Act, items are to be paid out 

of fees, receipts, special funds or out of 

other funds available for use by a department,~ 

it is the intention of the Legislature to 

limit expenditures out of said fees, receipts, 

special funds or other available funds to the 

purposes and in the amounts itemized herein, 

and it is so ,provided. 

"'It is provided that any ,,nursemployed 

by the State Health Department not receiving 

$125.00 per month under this Act may have her 
Honorable Roy S. Loventhal, page 3 

salary supplemented from Federal funds in 

the sum of $12.50 per month upon approval 

of the proper Federal authorities.' 

"The Legislature, in providing that the 

salaries of nurses employed by the State 

Health Department might be supplemented out 

of Federal funds upon approval by the proper 

Federal authorities,.,manifests a legislative 

Intent to prohibit the supplementing of the 

salaryof' any,~other-state employee. 

"It is the opinion of this department ~' 

therefore that the salaries of the employees 

involved in your inquiry cannot be supplemented, 

either by the F~ederal government or the commlssloners'~ courts of this State;" 

On September 19, we wrote you as follows: 

"This 'department is in receipt of~your 

letter of September 12th wherein you request 

a modification' or reconsideration of the above 

opsnion. 

"This has been assigned to.the writer for 

attention. .For my information, please send me ~' 

a c~opy of the cooperative agreement entered Into 

pursuant to the 'statutory authority granted by 

t;t;.lz;;, 41st Legislature, FirstCalled Session, 

. Also, I should appreciate knowing then 

exact procedure whereby the Federal Government or 

agency would make federal funds available and how 

it would be .dlsbursed." 

In respons~e to our inquiry~Mr.~C. R. Landon; District Agent for the United Sta~tes Department of the Interior, 

advised us:'that they (the two clerks) each have what is 

known as Agent appointments under the United States Department of the Interior. These appointments state the amount 

of salary to be paid from Federal funds and the amount to 

be paid from State funds. The total,salary is based upon 

the Federal salary rates for the type of work required of 

these employees." 

In the light of this information, it would seem 

that the Federal Government pays the two clerks in consideration for their services rendered pursuant to their 
Honorable Roy S. ~Loventhal, page 4 

individual capacity as agents of the United States 

Departme'nt of the Interior, and this being done 

irrespective of the fact that they incidentally 

occupy at the same time the position of State employees. 

The money paid these clerks in their capac'ity 

as a 'Federal agent springs from a source and travels 

a channel s'eparate and distinct from those funds appropriated by the State Legislature. These funds never 

reach the State Treasury. The point of its origin and. 

disbursement is the Unlted.States Treasury. (See Report 

of State Comptroller ~Re:Federal Funds.) 

Senate Bill No.~427,,Acts of the 46th .Legislature, 

is the .current.~Approprlation Bill. 'Certain portions of that 

Act which are considered as ~applicable follow: 

(1) ~"The appropriations herein provided 

are to be construed as the maximum sums to be 

appropriated to and for the several purposes 

named herein, and the amounts are intended to 

cover and shall~cover the entire cost of the 

respective Items and the same shall not be 

supplemented from~any. other source.“ 

(2) ,,?The properofficeror officers of ~' 

any State Departments, bureaus, ,or divisions 

of Staae Agencies are hereby authorized to 

make application for and accept-any gifts, 

grants, or allotments of funds from the United 

States Government to be used on State cooperative and other Federal projects and programs 

in, Texas. . . Any of such Federal Funds as 

may be deposited in the State Treasury are 

hereby‘ appropriated to t~he specific purpose 

authorlzed by the Federal~Government." '(Note: 

The numerical classification of these sections 

is ours). 

Acts 1929, 4lst Legislature, First Called Session, 

p. 235, authorizes the Livestock Sanitary Commission of Texas 

to enter into coop,erative agreements with the United States 
Honorable Roy S. Loventhal, Page 5 

Departm nt of the Interior to effect the control and 

eradica e ion of predatory animals. 

It is now~ submitted that the above quoted panagraphs of the Appropriation Bill do not apply to, and, 

therefore, cannot control the situation presented~here. 

It is to be noted that Section (l), supra, uses 

the phrase "The appropriations herein provided." This 

language gives rise to the supposition that the Legislature did not intend to deal with funds extraneousto 

those mentioned in and specifically dealt with in the 

Act. In Section (2), supra, the Legislature sought, to 

appropriate "any . . 

in the State Treasury:" 

Federal Funds as may be deposited 

The Federal Funds used to sup; 

plement the clerks' salaries in the instant case never 

reach the State Treasury; therefore, they have not been 

appropriated by the Legislature. Consequently no provision of that Act could possibly be made applicable. 

The Appropriation .Bill and its provisions can 

exercise no Influence over the funds under consideration 

by reason that they are completely foreign to its @here 

of applicability. There is here a direct relationship 

between the Federal Government and certain of its agents. 

They perform their Federal duties for which they receive 

their Federal pay. There exists no Intermediary period 

whereby the State could claim or establish jurisdlctldn 

for the purpose of directing the subsequent disbursement. 

Article 16,.Section 33, of the Texas Constitution 

provides: 

"The accounting officer of this State 

shall neither draw nor pay a warrant upon 

the treasury in favor of any person, fo,r 

salary or compensation as agent, officer 

or appointee, who holds at the same time any 

other office or position of honor, trust or 

profit, under this State or the United States, 

except as prescribed in this Constitution. 

Provided that this restriction as to the drawing and paying of warrants upon the treasury shall 

not apply to officers of the ~National Guard of 

Texas, the National Guard Reserve, the Officers 

Reserve Corps of the United States, nor to henlisted men of the National Guard, the National 

Guard Reserve, and the Organized Reserves of 

the United States.' 
Honorable Roy S. Loventhal, Page 6 

The clerks are commissioned agents of the United 

States Department of the Interior, and, accordingly, hold 

Federal positions of "honor, 

meaning of that phrase. 

trust, or profit" within 'the 

None of the enumerated exemptions 

in the above quoted constitutional provisipn embraces this 

situation. 

Therefore, under the given facts, our opinion Is 

that no provision of the AppropriationBill would prevent 

the State employee's salary from being supplemented by 

Federal Funds; but, Section 33, Article 16, supra, would 

prohibit them from receiving any salary or,compensation for 

their services rendered the State so long as this Federal 

relationship continues. 

Any portion of departmental opinion numbered 

O-2388 in conflict herewith is overruled. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEYGENERAL OFTEXAS 

BY 

Wm. -J. Fanning 

Assistant 

BY 

GW:RS 

APPROVED Oct.,22, 1940 

Gerald C. Mann 

Attorney General of Texas 

Grundy Williams