-. .

Iionorakle Dorsey B. Hardeman ~' Chalrman State Affa!rs ComrMttee Senate of Texas Austin, Texas OpinionNo. W-575
R.e: Ctinstitutionallty of Senate 3111 54, 56th Leglslatcre,,,

relating to eligibilityrequirements of per,sons

who may receive publicwelfare benef!ts, and reDear Senator Hardeman: lated questions.

We have receivedyour request of March 3, 1959, in.‘wh!ch

you seek our opinion on the valid:ity of Senate R-:1154 of the 56th Legislature:: relatlnS toellS!.bll-tty reqt:'remqnts

cf personswho may recef.iie ::uhI?c welfare benefits or who may be. admi’tted

to eleemoeynary.

inst?tutions of th?s State.

SenateB;ll 54 reads rn par! as follows: '~.
"ANACT relating to ellgibllityrequ’rements of personswho may receive benefits from programs paid out of p1~bli.c

funds and’!admTn!stered by the Board and Department of PublicWelfare and admission to the eleemosynary inst;tutlons'ofthl.sState ?y prodding that the requ:rement of ~UnitedStates citizenship shall be waived as to any such personwho meets the other rcqu:Trenenter;ccjfied in this ‘act;providtngseverabilfty and d~eclaring an einergency.
"BE IT EXACTED BY THE LEGI%ATURE OF ,THE STATE OF TEXAS: "Sect;~on

1. Hotwlthst~ndno, any cthei~ provis-lone

of st;tutes 01 thi:,tijtatc, utile requirement thatone be a citizen of theHono!?able DorseyB. Hardeman, page'2 (W-575)

United States to be eligible to receive assistance from the Doard and Department of PublicWelfare under Title 20A,Revised Civl.1Statutes 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 personwho 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'whllea resident thereof for a period of ten (10)years." Section 2. (Providesseverability.) Section 3. (Declaresan emergency.)
We shall first consider the effect of SenateBill 5'1 as it relates to eligibilityof persons to receive :~bl:'.c funds admlnistere*d and paid .bythe Board and Department of PublicWelfare. Under Title 20A,V.A.C.S., the various publicassistance programsare set out, as are the eligibll,ity req,uirements

therefor. A consistent requirement is'that the recipientmust be a citizen of the United States. As we interpretSenate 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~on1, Subsection (a)of Senate Bill 54. Section 51 of Article ,111of 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~ofany grant of publicmoneysto any Individual,association of Individuals,municiptl or other corporationswhatsoever;

. . . (,Wlth,

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

BYway ~ofadditional 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,bythe Legislature be deemed expedient for aesietance to, and for the payment of assistanoe to:

“(I) Needy aged persons whoare 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 mayoffer 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 &ndto .makepayment 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,reciplentsof Old,Age Aaslstance,Ald,to the Blind. or Aid to Dependent Children as providkd’forIn Section 51a of Article III and on behalf of needy recipients of Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled as provided for in Secti.on51-b of Article III of the Constitution of the State of Texas. The payments for suchmedical care on behalf of such recipients shall be in addition to the direct assistance to such recipients, and shall be in such’amountsas providedby 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. “TheLegislature 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 permanentlyand totally disabled persons as such Government may offer not 3nconsistent with restrl,ctions herein set forth.” (Emphasisadded.) 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 limitationsand restrictionsas may be deemed bs the Legislature exoedient. for assistance-toneed; individuals,who are citizens of the United States,who shall ,have passed their eighteenth ~(18th) birthdaybut have not passed-theirsixty-fifth (65th) birthday,who are totally and permanently disabledby reason of a mental or physi~cal handicap or .acombinationof physicaland ‘mentalhand.ldaps and not feasible for vocational rehabilitation,and ryhoare residents of the State of Texas,
. . . “The Legislature shall have the authority to accep,tfrom the Government of ,theUnited States such financialaid for individualswho. .

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

are permanentlyand totally disabledas that Governmentmay offer, not inconsistentwith the restrictionsherein 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"citizensof 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 dependentch'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 individualsto become eligible under the stated exceptions to Sectfon 51 of Article 111, they must be "citizens of Texas” or “citizensof the United States”. The fu~nds

providedby the various types of public assistance paymentsare 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 requirementunder the federal law that the recipientmust be a citizen of the United States. It is merely urovided that no State mav have any ci~tizenship 

# 7 equirement-whichexcludes 'ay c'tizen of the United States" See: 42 U.S.~

C.A. Sec.,3dd (31fi. ~, ‘Section51 of Art!.cleIII prshlbits the making of any such grant unless the recipientmay bringhimselfwithin 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 Legislaturewhich attempted to waive" or remove such requirementwould 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<.ll5!I

w3:?l.d allow payments to be made to personswho, 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, :~nsart: f,

. . .Generally speaking, a citizen is one who is a member of a nation or sovereignHonorable Dorsey B. Hardeman, Page 6 (W-575)

State, especially of a republic; one whoowes 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 -- whomaybe 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 whoowe allegiance elsewhere. Residence in the United States is without effect to change the status of a person as an alien; and it is nowsettled that the term ‘aliens’ as uaed in the Immigration Laws, includea not only ‘alien Immigrants’ but everyalien, 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 whowere 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 citizenshiprequirement 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 citizenshipand said that:

.The ripht of citizenshipas distinguished from alienage, Isa national right, character, or condition, and does not pertain to th; individualstates, separately considered.

. . . It iswell settled that a personmay 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 StatesAmbassadors abroad); but we have found only one case intima,ting the converse. In lWDone1v. State (SupremeCourtsInd.) 90 Ind. 320 (1883), the Court said:

"Onemay 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 personswho are notcitizens of the United States are not admitted to State citizenship."
It Is, therefore, our opinion that the provisionsof 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 PublicWelfare under Title 20 A, V.A.C.S., as amended, is prohibitedby 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 termof; Article,, citizens of Texas. This Bill would allow personsto 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 inhabitantsof the State who have been allowed to settle and rema!.nin this country and State. They are aliens and remain as such until they have been naturalizedaccording to.law. In our opinion, SenateBill 54 violates Sections .51,51a, 51a-1 and 51-b of Article III of the Constitution of Texas insofaras It purports to allow personsnot citizens of Texas to receive publ:cassistance payments.

Insofar as Senate Bill 54 relates to eliglblllty of personswho are not citizens of the United States for admission to any eleemosynary lnstitutlonof this State under Tj~tle51,V.A.C.S, as amended,we find no constitut'onal prerequisite sett?'.ng forthwho may be admitted to such Institutions. In thL~sconnection see Attorney General's Opinion O-2223 (1CjM). Therefore, In our opinion it isw!.th!nthe discretionof the Legislature to prescribe the eligibilityrequirements 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 Ismade to Attorney General's 'OpinionWW-251 (1957)whi.ch names the eleemosynary institutions of Texas.
We find no violations of the Constitution:ofTexas by Senate Bill 54'other than as set out above. SUMMARY Senate B:lll54 of the 56th Legislature violates Sections 51, 51a, 51a-1 and 51-b of Article III of the Constitution of Texas insofaras it allows public assistance paymentsto personsnot 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 admissionrequirements 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