DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY GENERhL 

QBffice of tip ~ttornep Qhnerat 

&ate of QCexae 

August 12,1992 

Mr. John Pouland 

Executive Director 

General Services Commission 

P. 0. Box 13047 

Austin, Texas 78711-3047 

Opinion No. DM-151 

Re: Whether pursuant to section 2.061(d) of 

the General Services Act, article 601b, 

V.T.C.S., a person who is a member of a firm 

which employs persons who are required to 

register as lobbyists under chapter 305 of the 

Government Code may serve as a commissioner of the General Services Commission, 

and related questions (RQ-343) 

Dear Mr. Pouland: 

You have requested an opinion from this office concerning the application of 

the conflict-of-interest section of the General Services Act, V.T.C.S. article 6Olb, 

section 2.061(d). This section reads: 

A person may not be a member of the commission or act as the 

general counsel to the commission if the person is required to register 

as a lobbyist under Chapter 305, Government Code, because of the 

person’s activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related 

to the operation of the commission or a business entity that contracts 

with the state. 

Your primary concern is whether, under this section, a person who is a member of a 

firm may serve as a commissioner of the General Services Commission when the 

firm employs persons who are required to register as lobbyists under chapter 305 of 

the Government Code. You also ask us to comment on your interpretation of the 

scope of section 2.061(d). 

We conclude that a person who is a member of a firm may serve as a 

commissioner of the General Services Commission even if that firm has other 

employees who are required to register as lobbyists under chapter 305. The 

ordinary meaning of the language used in section 2.061(d) dictates this conclusion. 

As a general rule, the words in a statute should be given their ordinary meaning 

p. 790 
Mr. John Pouland - Page 2 (m-151) 

unless the statute is ambiguous, the words are used as terms of art, or the statute 

gives definitions for the words. Eg., Gov’t Code 0 312.002(a) (providing that the 

words of the civil statutes shag be given their ordinary meaning unless they are used 

as terms of art); Gril v. Service Motors. Inc. 660 S.W.2d 814,815 (Tex. 1983) (stating 

that if the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, the statute should be given 

its common, everyday meaning). The language in section 2.061(d) refers to “the 

person” required to register only, not to anyone else. Thus, the language indicates 

that only the person who is actually required to register as a lobbyist is ineligible to 

beacomrmssl ’ ‘oner of the General Services Commission. 

The language used in section 2.061(d) also indicates that its scope is 

somewhat broader than your interpretation. You suggest that section 2.061(d) 

applies only to individuals who lobby on behalf of 1) entities that contract with tbe 

state through the General Services Commission or 2) professions related to the 

operation of the General Services Commission. We agree that section 2.061(d) 

applies to these two categories of individuals. However, in our opinion the section 

also applies to lobbyists who work on behalf of any business that contracts with the 

state, regardless of whether the business contracts through the General Services 

Commission. The section explicitly refers to lobbyists who work *on behalf of. . . a 

business entity that contracts with the state.” This language does not restrict the 

application of the section to lobbyists who work on behalf of entities that contract 

with the state through the General Services Commission. In contrast, the language 

of other conflict-of-interest provisions encompasses only one or two of these three 

categories. For example, section 5.05(c) of the Alcoholic Beverage Code states that 

a member of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission cannot also be a person who is 

required to register as a lobbyist because of his or her work “on behalf of a 

profession related to the operation of the commission.“t This section demonstrates 

that if the legislature had wanted to limit the application of section 2.061(d) to 

lobbyists whose work is somehow related to the General Services Commission, it 

would have done so explicitly. In light of the ordinary meaning of the words in the 

section, we camrot conclude that the legislature intended section 2.061(d) to apply 

only to lobbyists who work on behalf of entities that contract with the state through 

the General Servicies Commission or professions related to the operation of the 

General Servicies Commission. 

p. 791 
Mr. John Pouland - Page 3 ce-151) 

SUMMARY 

Sectfon 2.061(d) of the General Services Act, article 6Olb, 

V.T.C.S., does not prohibit a person from serving as a 

commissioner of the General Services Commission when that 

person is a member of a Srrn with other employees who are 

required to register as lobbyists under chapter 305 of the 

Government Code. Only the person actually required to 

register as a lobbyist is ineligible to serve as a commissioner of 

the General Services Commission under section 2.061(d). 

However, the application of the section is not restricted to 

lobbyists required to register because of their activities on behalf 

of professions related to the operation of the General Services 

Commission or on behalf of business entities that contract with 

the state through the General Services Commission. A lobbyist 

also cannot serve as a commissioner of the General Setices 

Commission if he or she works on behalf of a business that 

contracts with the state in erry manner, regardless of whether the 

business contracts through the General Services Commissior~ 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney General of Texas 

WILL PRYOR 

First Assistant Attorney General 

MARY KELLER 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

RENEAHlcK!3 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

MADELEJNE B. JOHNSON 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Margaret A Roll 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 792