Honorable John Connally Opinion No. C-54

Governor of Texas.! Austin, Texas Re: Whether House Bill 377 **of** the 58th 'Legislature is in compliance

with the pro,- visions of Section 9 of Article IX of the ConstlDear Governor Connally: tutlon of Texas.

Your request for-an opinion reads as follows:

~%nclosed'ls a copy ofRouse Bill 377 which has been passed by the 5- 8th Legisltiture under'the,

authority of the recently'ipproVed_ T. Article IX,-

Section-9 of the Constitutionof Texas. -
-"The first paragraph.ofthat Section provide&that such hospital districts shall not be created -'unless approved by a majority of the qualifiedproperty taxpaying elehtors'therebf'votingat iin

election called"for the purpose'; whereas the last paragraph states that 'In no event may the Legislatureprovide for'
a district to be created nlthout the'afflrmatlve vote of a majority of the taxpayingvoters ,ln the district concerned.'

"Since House Bill 377 provides for creation of the Jasper Hospital District upon a vote of Ia majority of the resident qualified property taxpaying voters voting at said election,' will you please advise me If this Bill meets all of the requirementsof Article IX, Section 9 of the Constitution?"

Section 9 of Article IX of the Constitutionof Texas provides:

"The Legislature may by law provide for the creation, establishment, maintenance and operation of hospital districts composed of
one or more counties or all or any part of

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. -.; --Hon. John Connally,page 2 (C-54)

one br more countieswith power to Issue bonds for-the'purchase, construction,

acquisition,rtipa1.r~

or-renovtitlon

of~'build; lngs and Lmprdvefietit8.and equipping same, for hospital purposes;providing for the transfer to the hospital dlkitrlct of the title to-any l&d, bulldlngs,'lmprovements and equipment locatedwhelly~withln the " districtwhich may be~~~jotntly or separately owned by any clty;town dr county, providing that any district so created shall assume full rdsponsiblllty for providingmedical and hospital care for Its needy Inhabitants and assume the outstandingIndebtednessincurred by cities, towns and counties for hospital~purposes

prior to the creation of the district, If same are locatedwholly within Its boundarles,~&nd a pro rata portion of~Buch'lnd~btedries&based upon the thi?n' last-.approveil-tax

Asaesstient

rollS of the'lndkzdedcltfes, towns and.'cbuntles If less than all the territory thereof~~ls in-- eluded within the districtboundaries;providing that after Its creation no other municipality or polStlcal'subdl;vislon shall have the power to levy taxea or. lssui bonds
or other obligationsfbr hospitalpurposes or for providingmedical care within the boundaries of the district;providing for the levj'of annual taxes-ata rate not to exceed seventy-fivecents (754) on the one hundred~ddllar

valuatloti

of all taxable property within such district,forthe purpose of meeting the requirementsof the dlstrlct8sbonds, the Indebtedness assumed by It and its maintenanceand operating exp&sea, providing that such district .&all not be created or such tax authorizedunless

tenance of the district'shospital system shall never become a charge against Or obllgatlon of the State of Texaa nor shall any direct appropriaklon be made by the Legislature for the construction, maintenance or Improvementof any of the facllltlesof such district.
"Provided,

however, that no district shall be created except by act of the Legislatureand
-26%Hon. John Connally,page 3+(C-54) :

It will be noted by the underlinedportions of the above quoted constitutional provisions that-the first Paragraph of Section 9 requires approval "by a majority of the qualified property taxpaying electors thereof voting? at an election called -forthat purpose,"whiZe~t.he last paragra& of the Section requires an affirmativevote of "a majon.cy of the taxpaying voters in then

district concerned.~"

In construing the above quoted provisions, It Is our opinion that the.

rule.& constructiongoverning the proper lnterpretationtobe givenSection g:of,Artlcle IX of then Constir tution of,

Texas is.stated:in39 Tex.Jur. 162.et seq., Statutes, Sec. 91, as follows: .: ,, /

"An importantrule to'be observed In statutory.

interpretation

1s that an act should be given a fair, rational, reasonableand .' sensible construction,consideringIts language and subject-matter, and with a view to accomplishingthe legislativeIntent and purpose. In .other

words, constructionshould comport with common sense and justice, and irrational conclusionsor deductions should be avoided; Contrariwise, according to the terms used~

in the decisions, ,a statute should not be given a 'forced,' 'fancy,' 'strained,' 'subtle'or 'technical' construction,

nor one that Is nonsensicalor unreasonable.In the absence of compelling language found in the enactment."

The above rule was cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Texas In Wood v. (1939). State, 133 Tex.110, 126~S.W.2d4

Applying the foregoingprinciples to Section9 of Article IX of the Constitutionof Texas, It appears that a study of these two paragraphs reveals that whereas the first paragraphprovides that such district shall be created only by
a majority of the property taxpayingvoters voting at an election, the second paragraphprovides that the Legislature may not provide for a district to be created without an afflrmatlve vote of the majority of the taxpaying voters in the district.A literal applicationof this latter provision would

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\Hon. John Connally,page 4 (C-54)

render lrration@lthis Section of the Constitution. It is felt that this.Sect$on6f the Conatltutlonis susceptibleof but
one ~easo~a~l~.'.~onstructlon; that being, that the creation of the district Is authorizedonly upon the vote of a majority of the qualifiedproperty taxpaying electorsvoting at ati election. House Bill 377 contains such a provisionand~ls expresslyenacted pursuant to the p?ovlslonsof Section 9 of titicle IX of the Con&tution of Texas. You are therefore-advised that 377 meets all the requirementsof Section 9 of Article Constitution

of Texas.

SUMMARY

House Bill 377 of the 58th Legislature provides for the creation of the Jasper Hoepltal District,upon the vote of a majority of the resident qualifiedproperty*%axpaylng: +foterd,-vbeing.at' said election,and is therefore In compliancewith Section 9 of Article IX of the Conatltutlonof Texas.

Yours very truly,

WAQGONER CARR Attorney Genera?.

JR:ms

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE

W. V. Geppert, Chairman Albert Jones Jerry Brock M. K. Wall J. Arthur Sandlln

APPROVEDFOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: Stanton Stone House Bill IX of the

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