R-588

June 28, 1947

Honorable Joe Nelson, Chief Accountant Board of County & District Road Indebtedness Austin, Texas Opinion NO. v-277
Re: Effective date of House Bill No. 21, 30th Legislature relative to allocation of surplus fundsby Roard of County and District Road Indebtedness.
Dear Sir:
We refer to your letter of June 12, 1947, inwhich you submit the following: "During the past session of the LegislatureHouse Bill21 passed,which provides for a differentmethod of allocating OUT surplus funds to the State Highway Department and the several counties. This bill containingan emergency qlause was passed by the House onApril 8, 1947,by a vote of 95 ayes and.34 noes. It was passed by the Senatewith., amendmen'zs

on Mey 7, 194'7,

by a vote of 17 ayes Wi5 noes. The House concurred in the Senate amendments on May'13, 1947,by B vote of 86 to 35, and this bill was signed by the Governor on May 31, 1947.
"In view of this informationwe ssk that you please advise us the date that House Bill21willbecome a law. It is on September 1 of each year thatwe ere required to allocate our surplus funds to the counties,and we ask that yo'ou please advise us ifwe shouldmake this allocation es provided inArticle 6674, or if this allocation should be made as provided for by House Bill 21.* Section 39 of Article III of the State Constitutionreads:
"No law passed by the Legislature, except the general appropriationact, shall take effect or go into force until njnety days after the adjournmentof the session at which itwas enacted,unless in case of emergency,which emergencymust be expressed in a preamble or i+ thebody of the act, the Legislature shall, by a vote of all the members elected to each house, T-thirds Of otherw se direct:Honorable Joe Nelson, Page 2 V- 277

said vote tobe takenby yeas and nays, and enteredupon the journals." When the lastvote on House Bill No. 21was taken in the Senate on May 7, 1947, therewere 30 electedmembers of the Senate. The votewas 17 yeas and 5 nays. On May 13, 1947,when the lastvote was taken in the House on that said Bill, therewere 147 electedmembers of the House of Representatives. The vote in theHouse was 86 yeas and 35 nays. That lawwas not passed by a vote of two-thirdsof the elected members of each House, by reason of which itwill take effect 90 days after adjournment of the 50th Legislature on June 6, 1947-
We areassuming that your reference to Article 6674q really means Article 66749-7 of Vernon's Civil Statutes and to sub-sectionh of that section,which will remain in effect and serve as your guide House Bill No. 21 supersedes. That sub-sectionrequires that: "(h) On September 1st of each year after the Board has paid off and dischargedall eligible obligationsmaturing during the preceding fiscalyear, togetherwith the intereston such obligationsand the sinking fund requirementsaccuring thereon and of the County and Road DistrictHighway Fund, any surplus remaining in said fund over and above Three Million ($3,000,000.00) shall be set aside and credited."

. . . . " one-half to the State Highway Fund and one-half to the Lateral Road Account . . . v until

*Not later than September 15th of each year the said Board shall ascertain the exact amount of money which has been allocated to the said Lateral Road Account for such fiscal year and which at that time is available. The Board shall allocate to each county its proportionatepart of themoneys in said LateralRoad Account,which allocation shallbe determined in the followingmanner": Then the method of distribution is set out, but is not material to your inquiry0 Summarized, the law requires that the Board make the divisionbetween the State Highway Fund and the LateralRead Account on September lst, and make the allocations to the countiesnot later than September 15th of each year. If such allocationsbe made by the Board before September 5, 1947, sub-sectionh of Article 69749-T applies to such action; ifmade on or after September 5, 1947,when House Bill No. 21 becomes effective, the provisionsof that lawmust be applied to such allotments.Honorable Joe Nelson, Page 3 V-277

SUMMARY
House Bill No. 21 passedby the 50th Legislature relative to allocationof surplus in the County and Road DistrictHighway Fund not having passed the Legislatureby vote of two-thirdsof the elected members of eachHouse, will not become effectiveuntil 90 days after adjournmentof the Legislature on June 6, 1947. If allocationssuch surplus fundsbe made before September 5, 1947, sub-section (h) of Article 6674g-7 controls such allocation; ifmade after September 5, 1947,House Bill No. 21 controls such allocations.
Yours very truly A!LTORNEY 'ZNERALOFTEXAS $1 W. T. Williams

By W. T. Williams

Assistant
APPROVED s/ Price Daniel AlTORNEY GENERAL W!lW:t:jrb:ldw