R-666 

~~A-~~oMNEY 

Q,F ?R?lrsAs 

GENEIKAL 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATXXWEY CENERAI. 

YUIY 26, 1947 

Hon. Roy Xov+.nthal, 

t*ivestock bmltarg 

2002 W. T. Waggoner 

Fort Worth, Texas ,,/ 

‘,‘, .,.: 

,,, 

Dear Sir : 

Opinion MO. V-316 

Re :, The expiration date 

,,,, of the emergency appropriation for the 

Livestock Sanitary 

Commlseion in H. B. 

879, 49th Legislature. 

In your letter of July 15,, 1947, you request 

the opinion OS tbls #‘fice,. upon the question therein 

contained, which folc cotN&nlenoe we quote, as follows: 

,, 2,~ -i ,,,,, ;\ ,.:.‘A ‘~ ;: 

“On June llth., 1945, the Legislature 

made available to th~ls Department, through 

House Bill 879,;: qn ,emergency agpropriation 

in the amount of ‘$10.000.00. 

“In the &t&p, $&of ‘Sectida I of 

House Bill 879: +o,u gill, .fbd the foliowlng wording: ,, ~ ;,,~i “, 

‘And the 8ai.d Commission 

shall be ent;itled .to the use and 

to the expe,ndltWe of said’ monies 

hereby appropplated up to Septem- ‘, .., .*p g&y, .?594.7&. t .‘j . . ., * ,a. .‘, .. :. , 

‘we are advised by Mr. Geo. Ii. Sheppard, Comptroller of Public Accounts, that 

the Iegislature Is not authorized to appropriate money.for State expenditure for a 

period exceeding two years from the date 

the appropriation is made available. 

“It occurs %o;,us that the two year 

llmlt applies, to rsgular appropriations, 

and that it d&es nti apply to appropriatibns for emergency purposes. 
Hon. Roy Loventhal, rage 2, V-316 

“Due to the fact that the close of 

our fiscal year Is near and that a consldarable amount of the $2,400.00 yet unexpauded in this appropriation is needed 

for materials and supplf:,a, we will appreciate an early respoare. 

It appears that you are under the Impression 

that the restraint placed upen the Iagislature by Sect ion 6 of Article III of the Const ltutlon of Texas, 

which reads as follows: 

n 

. . . nor shall an7 appropriation 

of meaey be yde for le8ger term than two 

gears . . . 

applies only to regular l pproprlatlons, but not to appropriat ions for emsrgancj purposes. A careful reading of 

If. B. No. 879, (Acts 49th leg., 1945, p. 531) does not 

disclose that the LeglalM.ure treated this as an emergency appropriation. The act mrely contained the usual 

emrgencg provisloas aurpeelling the censt it ut lonal rule 

requiring It to be read en three several days in each 

House In order that it take effect lmadiately from end 

after Its pessage. It is, tkOw0r0, of no legal significance that it may be thus tenad an emergency appropr iat Ion. 

It 1s manliest that the plain language of Section 6 of Article VIII of the Constitution, “nor shall 

anj approp$iatlon of mea07 be rade for longer term thaa 

two years, applies to all l ppPoprl8tlons whether they 

be termed emergency appropriations or regular approprlations. This office has heretofore written several oplmIons stating vhat we coacalve to be the correct rule of 

lnw, and it would serve n8 usefnl purpose to write extensively upon the said questloms again. We enclose 

herewith a cop7 of Opinloa !fe: O-3639, approved June 15, 

1941, the last paragraph of whleh anawers your questloa. 

A more extended dlacusslon la found in Opinion No. O3651, a copy of which is herewith enclosed. This opln10s cites aad quotes fpe8 several eplalons of the courts 

of this Stata vhlch confirm the rule that an approprlation may not be made by tke bglslaturt for a longer 

term than tve pars under the sxpross provisions of Sectien 6 of Article VIII of the Oenstltutlon. 
, 

Hon. Roy brenthal, ?age 3, v-316 

House Bill Iio. 879, Acts of the 49th bglslature, 1945, was approved June 11, 1945, and became Immediately effective on that date, and ceased to be effective at midnight on June 10, 1947, two years thereafter. 

You are, therefore, respectfully advised that 

an balance remaining in this appropriation on June 11, 

19 t 7, is no longer available, notwlthstandlng the Appropriation Act provides, “and the said Commission shall 

be entitled to the use and to the expenditure of said 

money hereby appropriated up to September 1, 1947. 

Section 6 of Article VIII of the Constitution, which provides that no approprlatlon of money shall ba made for a longer term than two years, applies to all appropriations whether termed emergency or 

regular approprlatloas. Hence an approprlation effective June 11, 1945, ceases to be 

efSectlve on June 10, 1947, notwlthstandlng 

the Act contains a provision that “the Commission shall be entitled to use the 

money . . . up to September 1, 1947: ‘I’ 

Very truly yours, 

ATTORRRY GEH&RAL OF TEXAS 

LPL:lmIlc :mr j