-. . 

Iionorakle Dorsey B. Hardeman ~' 

Chalrman 

State Affa!rs ComrMttee 

Senate of Texas 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. W-575 

R.e: Ctinstitutionallty of 

Senate 3111 54, 56th 

Leglslatcre,,, relating 

to eligibility requirements of per,sons who 

may receive public welfare benef!ts, and reDear Senator Hardeman: lated questions. 

We have received your request of March 3, 1959, 

in.‘wh!ch you seek our opinion on the valid:ity of Senate 

R-:11 54 of the 56th Legislature:: relatlnS toellS!.bll-tty 

reqt:'remqnts cf persons who may recef.iie ::uhI?c welfare 

benefits or who may be. admi’tted to eleemoeynary. inst?tutions of th?s State. 

Senate B;ll 54 reads rn par! as follows: '~. 

"AN ACT relating to ellgibllity requ’rements of persons who may receive 

benefits from programs paid out of 

p1~bli.c funds and’!admTn!stered by the 

Board and Department of Public Welfare and admission to the eleemosynary inst;tutlons'of thl.s State ?y 

prodding that the requ:rement of 

~United States citizenship shall be 

waived as to any such person who 

meets the other rcqu:Trenente r;ccjfied in this ‘act; providtng severabilfty and d~eclaring an einergency. 

"BE IT EXACTED BY THE LEGI%ATURE OF ,THE STATE OF TEXAS: 

"Sect;~on 1. Hotwlthst~nd no, any cthei~ 

provis-lone of st;tutes 01 thi:, tijtatc, utile 

requirement thatone be a citizen of the 
Hono!?able Dorsey B. Hardeman, page' 2 (W-575) 

United States to be eligible to receive 

assistance from the Doard and Department 

of Public Welfare under Title 20A, Revised Civl.1 Statutes of Texas, as amended, 

or to be admitted to any eleemosynary institutions of this state under Title 51, 

Revised Civil Statutes of, Texas, as amended, shall be waived and be of no force and 

effect as to any person who has 

"(a) Reslded in this State for at 

least twenty,(20) years; and has either 

"(1) A child who has served In 

the Armed Forces of the United States; ,or 

,"(2), Paid ad valorem taxes on 

property in thls‘State'whlle a resident 

thereof for a period of ten (10) years." 

Section 2. (Provides severability.) 

Section 3. (Declares an emergency.) 

We shall first consider the effect of Senate Bill 

5'1 as it relates to eligibility of persons to receive 

:~bl:'.c funds admlnistere*d and paid .by the Board and Department of Public Welfare. Under Title 20A, V.A.C.S., 

the various public assistance programs are set out, as 

are the eligibll,ity req,uirements therefor. A consistent 

requirement is'that the recipient must be a citizen of 

the United States. As we interpret Senate Bill 54, it 

would have the effect, of removing or "waiving" the requirement that reclple,nts be citizens of the United States, 

provfded they can show themselves to come under Secti~on 1, 

Subsection (a) of Senate Bill 54. 

Section 51 of Article ,111 of the Consti.ut!on of 

Texas reads in part as follows: + .~ 

"See . 51.. The Legislatuhi shall have 

no power to make any grant or authorize the 

making ~of any grant of public moneysto any 

Individual, association of Individuals, municiptl or other corporations whatsoever; 

. . . (,Wlth, certainexceptions.) 
Honorable Dorsep B. Hardeaan, page 3 (WW-575) 

BY way ~of additional exceptiona, Section 5la of 

Article III provides in part ae follows: 

“Set . 51s. The Legislature shall have 

the power, by General Laws, to provide, subject to llmltatlons and restrictions herein 

contained, and such other limitatlona, restrictions and regulations as may ,by the 

Legislature be deemed expedient for aesietance to, and for the payment of assistanoe 

to: 

“(I) Needy aged persons who are actual 

bona fide citizens of Texas;, and,who art over 

the age of silty-fi,ve J65) 

with certain other ~requirei%I’s& ‘fckth) . 

Emphasis added.) 

“(2) Needy blind persons who are actual bona fide citlzena of Texas and are tver 

the age of twenty-one (21) 

with certain other requir&~~~~~‘sk*f&th). 

Emphasis ,added.) 

“(3) Needy children who are actual 

bona fide citizens of Texas and are ;nder 

the age of sixteen (161 (with 

certain other re 

(Emphasis added. 

‘The Legislature shall have the authority to accept from the Federal Government of 

the United States such financial aid for the 

assistance of the nee,dy aged, needy blind, 

and needy.children 88 such Government may offer not lnconeietent with restrictions herein 

set forth; provided, however, that the amount 

of such assistance out of State funds to eaoh 

peraon aaleted rhall never exceed the $mount 

so expended out of Federal funds; . . . 

Section 51a-1, Artlole, III or the Constitution of 

Texas reads In part ae hollows: 

“The Legislature shall have the power to 

provide by Weral Laws &nd to .make payment for 

came, under swh limltatlons and restr,lctlons a8 

nay be deemed by the LegiaLatur,e expedient, for 
.- 

Honorable Dorsey B. Hardeman, page.4 (W-5,75) 

direct or vendor payments for medical care, 

on behalf of needy,reciplents of Old,Age 

Aaslstance, Ald,to the Blind. or Aid to 

Dependent Children as providkd’for In Sect ion 51a of Article III and on behalf of 

needy recipients of Aid to the Permanently 

and Totally Disabled as provided for in 

Secti.on 51-b of Article III of the Constitution of the State of Texas. The payments 

for such medical care on behalf of such recipients shall be in addition to the direct 

assistance to such recipients, and shall be 

in such’amounts as provided by the Legislature; provided, however, that the amounts 

paid out of State funds for such purposes 

shall never exceed the amounts paid out of 

Federal funds for such purposes. 

“The Legislature shall have the au- 

.thority to accept from the Federal Government of the United States, such financial 

aid on behalf of the needy aged, needy blind, 

needy children, an,d needy permanently and 

totally disabled persons as such Government 

may offer not 3nconsistent with restrl,ctions 

herein set forth.” (Emphasis added.) 

Section 51-b of Article III reads in part as follows : 

“Sec. 51-b.~ The Legislature shall have 

the power to provide by general laws, under 

such limitations and restrictions as may be 

deemed bs the Legislature exoedient. for assistance-to need; individuals, who are citizens of the United States, who shall ,have 

passed their eighteenth ~(18th) birthday but 

have not passed-their sixty-fifth (65th) 

birthday, who are totally and permanently 

disabled by reason of a mental or physi~cal 

handicap or .a combination of physical and 

‘mental hand.ldaps and not feasible for vocational rehabilitation, and ryho are residents 

of the State of Texas, . . . 

“The Legislature shall have the authority to accep,t from the Government of ,the United 

States such financial aid for individuals who 
. . 

::on:,r;;!:'l~c Dorsey F,. hardernan., page 5 (.WW-575) 

are permanently and totally disabled as that 

Government may offer, not inconsistent with 

the restrictions herein provided.," 

ours.) 

(Emphasis 

Your attention iscalied to'the fact that Section 

51a provides that needy aged persons, needy blind persons, 

and needy ch~i~ldren must ,be "citizens of Texas" in order 

to be eligible for the payments therein.provi:ded., Section 

51a-1 provides for payments for medical care on behalf of 

needy recipients of old age assistance, aid to the blind, 

or aid to dependent ch'ldren, as. provided for in Sections 

51a and 51-b, but restricts such payments to individuals 

'who are citizens of the United States." It is seen that 

in order for individuals to become eligible under the stated 

exceptions to Sectfon 51 of Article 111, they must be "citizens of Texas” or “citizens of the United States”. 

The fu~nds provided by the various types of public 

assistance payments are partially composed of federal funds. 

In order fora recipient to be eligible,, he must be eligible 

under the State law, as well as under the federal law and 

regulations. There is no requirement under the federal law 

that the recipient must be a citizen of the United States. 

It is merely urovided that no State mav have any ci~tizenship 

7 equirement-which excludes 'a y c'tizen of the United States" 

See: 42 U.S.~ C.A. Sec., 3dd (31f i. ~, 

‘Section 51 of Art!.cle III prshlbits the making of any 

such grant unless the recipient may bring himself within one 

of the exceptions enumerated in Sections 51, 51a, 51a-1 or 

51-b. 

Section,,51-b of Article 111 authorizes paym$nts thereunder only to . . . citizens of the United St$tes . Clearly 

any Act of the Legislature which attempted to waive" or remove such requirement would violate that Section, as well as 

Section 51 of.Artlcle III. Section 51a and Section 5la-1 

only require the rer-i,pient thereunder to be citizens of Texas. 

Senate R<.ll 5!I w3:?l.d allow payments to be made to persons who, 

under ccrta!n crndP;i.ons are not citizens of the United State?. 

;.I&~;~ ::I pcrssn be a cj.t;izen..of Texas ,vditho,u.t i:ej.ng a citizen of 

tllc Unl~ted Ststes? 

2 Tex. Jcr. 677! Aliens 2 2, states, :~n sart: 

f, 

. . . Generally speaking, a citizen is 

one who is a member of a nation or sovereign 
Honorable Dorsey B. Hardeman, Page 6 (W-575) 

State, especially of a republic; one who owes 

allegiance to a government, and Is entitled 

to protection from it. By the federal constitution, ‘All persons born or naturalized in 

the United States, and subject to the jurisdictl.on thereof, are citizens of the United 

States and of the State wherein they reside’. 

Citizens are to be distinguished from resldente; the terms are neither eynonymous nor 

interchangeable; while a citizen has the right 

of residence, citizenship la not implied from 

the fact of residence. Citizens are also distinguished from Inhabitants -- who may be 

strangers --,allowed to settle and remain in 

a country. Aliens living in the state are 

inhabitants. ” 

2 Am.Jur. 464, Aliens % 2, states, in part: 

“The term ‘alien’ is defined by atatute 

as comprehending any Individual not a natlve- 

;;;be;r nat~uralized citizen of the United 

. . . . . 

“The term also Includes subjects and 

citizens of foreign countries, and not 

merely persons resident in the United States 

who owe allegiance elsewhere. Residence in 

the United States is without effect to change 

the status of a person as an alien; and it is 

now settled that the term ‘aliens’ as uaed in 

the Immigration Laws, includea not only ‘alien 

Immigrants’ but every alien, irrespective of 

any previous residence or domicile in this 

county.” 

The early case of Ex Parte Blumer, (Supreme Court) 

27 Tex. 735 (18651, the Court considered who were residents 

of the Confederate States for the purpose of conscription. 

The Court said at page 737: 

” 

States ? 

hg Congress &f the Confederate 

designed that the term should include 

more Than citizens, native and naturalized, 

otherwise the word citizen would have been 

uaed . . .” 
. . . 

Honorable Dorsey B. Hardeman, page 7 (W-575) 

This certainly implies that a citizenship requirement is more restrictive than a mere residence requirement. 

In Town of New Hartford v. Town of Canaan, 5 A. 360, 

the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut, considered 

whether the son of a naturalized citizen of the United 

States acquired the status of a citizen of that State. The 

Court disoussed the attributes of citizenship and said that: 

. The ripht of citizenship as distinguished from alienage, Isa national right, 

character, or condition, and does not pertain 

to th; individual states, separately considered. 

. . . 

It is well settled that a person may be a citizen of 

the United States without being a citizen of any particular 

State. (For example, a resident of the District of Columbia,, or the children of United States Ambassadors abroad); 

but we have found only one case intima,ting the converse. 

In lWDone1 v. State (Supreme Courts Ind.) 90 Ind. 320 

(1883), the Court said: 

"One may be a citizen of a State and yet 

not a citizen of the United States." 

However, the Court goes on to say: 

I, 

. . . in most of the States of the Union 

persons who are notcitizens of the United 

States are not admitted to State citizenship." 

It Is, therefore, our opinion that the provisions of 

Senate B-11 jl+, which seek to waive the requirement that one 

be a citizen of the United States to be eligible to recei.ve 

assistance from the Board and Department of Public Welfare 

under Title 20 A, V.A.C.S., as amended, is prohibited by 

Sections 51, 5la, 51a-1 and 51-b of Article III of the Conrtltution of the State of Texas. Section gla 

III of the Constitution of Texas uses the term 

of; Article,, 

citizens of 

Texas. This Bill would allow persons to receive such funds 

without being a citizen of Texas even though they reside in 

the State of Texas and have resided in this county for a 

period of twenty years or longer; and had a child who served 

in the Armed Forces of the United States or paid ad valorem 

taxes on property in this State while a resident for a period 
. 

Honorable Dorsey C. Hardenan, page 8 (WW-575) 

of ten (10) years. These people are inhabitants of the 

State who have been allowed to settle and rema!.n in this 

country and State. They are aliens and remain as such 

until they have been naturalized according to. law. In 

our opinion, Senate Bill 54 violates Sections .51, 51a, 

51a-1 and 51-b of Article III of the Constitution of Texas insofar as It purports to allow persons not citizens 

of Texas to receive publ:c assistance payments. 

Insofar as Senate Bill 54 relates to eliglblllty 

of persons who are not citizens of the United States for 

admission to any eleemosynary lnstitutlon of this State 

under Tj~tle 51, V.A.C.S, as amended, we find no constitut'onal prerequisite sett?'.ng forth who may be admitted to 

such Institutions. In thL~s connection see Attorney General's Opinion O-2223 (1CjM). Therefore, In our opinion 

it is w!.th!n the discretion of the Legislature to prescribe 

the eligibility requirements for admlsslon into the various 

eleemosynary institutions. Senate Bill 54 does not violate 

the Constitution of Texas insofar as It relates to admissions 

to such institutions. Reference Is made to Attorney General's 

'Opinion WW-251 (1957) whi.ch names the eleemosynary institutions of Texas. 

We find no violations of the Constitution:of Texas 

by Senate Bill 54'other than as set out above. 

SUMMARY 

Senate B:lll 54 of the 56th Legislature 

violates Sections 51, 51a, 51a-1 and 

51-b of Article III of the Constitution 

of Texas insofar as it allows public 

assistance payments to persons not citizens of the UnIted States, because United States citizenship is a prerequisite 

to being a citizen of Texas. 
Honorable Dgrsey D. Hardeman, page 9 (W-575) 

Senate Bill 54 of the 56th Leg%slature 

is constitutional Insofar as it relates 

to admission requirements to the eleemosynary institutions. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

BY 

& .A :rn&Lky 

Tom I. McFarling i, 

Assistant 

By&J 6zL.Lb 

Leon F. Pesek 

Assistant 

TIM:zt:rm 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Geo . P. Blackburn, Chairman 

Riley Eugene Fletcher 

Charles D. Cabaniss 

Will-iam R. Hemphill 

REVIEWED FCR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

3y : W. V. Gcgpert