## TEIEATTORNEY GEN&=zAL'
0,FTEXAS

Honorable J. M. Falkner Banking Commleslonerof Texas Austin 14, Texas
Honorable Jesse James State Treasurer of Texas Austin 11, Texas OpinionNo. c-127

Gentlemen: 9te: Reimbursement of travel expense8 'fornew members of the State Banklng and State Depository Boards.

As ex-officiomembera of both the State Banktng Board and:the State DepositoryBoard, you have jointly requested our opinion on the above captioned queation. Formerly the Attorney Generalwas a statutorymember of each of these boards in addition to each of you;however a,recent enactment of the 58th Legislature removed the Attorney General from the.se,boards and ,providedthat a citizenmember be appointed. Since the three state officialspreviously serving on these boards lived in Austin, therewas never any appropriationmade for travel expenses as suchwas unneceasary. The problem now arises, and you requesthow'the c%tizenmembers serving on suchboardsmay be reimbursed for travel

states expenses. -

Section 18 of Senate Bill 318 of the 58th Legislature as follows,:
"The citizenmembers replacing the Attorney General.

on the Boarde and Commleelons amendedby this-

Act shallbe reimbursed for their actual .meala,lodging and incidental expenses ,whenperforming their dutierr a$ members of theirrespective Boards at all offlcialmeetings of the,Board on the same basis aa Is provided for members of the LegIslature~

serving on Boards, Councils, Committees or CommiSeions,provided, however, that

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Hon. Jesse James, page two 

## (c- 127)

the travel expensesherein provided shall not be paid but for fiftean 

## (15) meetings of such Boards per year. Each member shall make out under oath an Itemized statement of the number of days engaged In attending officialmeetings of the Board and the amount of expenseswhen presenting same for~payment."
Subsectiond of Section 17 of House Bill 

## 86, the General AppropriationBill, statesas follows:

"Membersof the Legislaturewho serve on any Board, Council, Committeeof Commission shall receive actual expenses formeals, lodging, and incidental expenses not to exceed Twelve Dollars ($12)per day when traveling on officialbusiness inside~,the State; and shallbe reimbursed for actual expenses incurred formeals, lodging, and Incidental expenses,

when traveling on officialbusiness outside the State. Claims for reimbursements of such expenses'shallbe presented on forms prescribedby the Comptroller.
"Whentraveling on officialbusiness in- 's,ide the State, such Members of the Legislature shallbe reimbursed for mileage on the samebasis as is provided In the Constitution for Members of the Legislature;and It Is further provided that the samemileage rates shall apply to necessary travel to pointswithin the State other than the seat of government.

. . .'

No appropriationwas made, however, for reimbursement for travel expenses incurredby the citizenmembers.

Consideringthe problemwith regard to the State Banking Board, viefind that there is no appropriationwhatsoever for the Banking.Department other than one to cover operating space in the John'H. Reagan OfficeBuilding. It is further significantthat Article 342-112 of .Vernon'sCivil Statutes, the Banking Code of 1943; specifically states that:

"The Commissioner shall, from,tlme to time aa directedby the Finance Commission, submit to such Commissiona full and complete report of the receipts and expenditures of the Banking Department and the Finance Commissionmay from time to time examine the -630-Hon. J. M. Falkner, and

Hon. Jesse James, page three (C-127)

financial records of the Banking Department or cause them to be examined. In addition, the Banking Department shall be audited from time to time by the State Audltor in the samemanner as other State Departments, and the actual costs of such audits shallbe paid to the State Auditor from the funds of the Banking Department. Fees, penalties and revenues collectedby the Banking Department from every sdurce whatsoever shallbe retained and held by id Department, and no part of such fee's, z&alties and revenues shall ever be paid Into the General Revenue Fund of this State. All expenses incurredby the Banking Department shallbe paid only~from such fees, penalties, and revenues,and no such expense shall everbe a charge against the funds of this State. The Finance Commlsslon shall adopt, and from time to time amend, budgets which shall direct .thepurposes, and prescribe the amounts, for which the fees, penalties and revenues of the Banking bepartm&t'shall be expended; and th Finance Commission shall,as of December 51, 1951, and annually thereafter, report to the Governor of the State of Texas the receipts and disbursements of the Banking Department for each calendar year; and shallwithin the first sixty (60)days of each succeeding Regular Session of the Legislaturemake a report to the appropriate committees of the House and Senate chargedwith considering legislation ertaining to banking." (lQnphasis added

P. Many opinions from.this office have held that the expenses of the Banking Department and the Banking Board may be paid out of any revenues collectedby the Department, whether from penalties, fees, examinations or otherwise. The Finance Commissionprovides In its budget the amounts allocated for the variouspurposes. Attorney General's OpinionsNos. NW-725 (1959).WW-1095 (1961);and C-88 (1963). OpinionNo. WW-500 (1958) stated:

"Since the above quoted' portion of Artlcle 342-112provides that all expenses Incurred

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Hon. Jesse James, page four (C-1?7)

by the Banking Department shallbe paid only from such fees, penalties and revenues, and the expenses incurred on behalf of the Banking Department for the services of the Court Reporterbeing legitimate expenses, you are advised that the Finance Commission of Texasmay authorize the payment of these obligations."
Sincewe have previouslyheld that the Finance Commission may setaside ~fu~nds to satisfy 'expensesincurred by the State Banking Board, we advise you that such Commission may likewise set aside funds to cover travel expenses of the new cltizen'memberof the Banking Board.

A different situation exists as to the citizenmember of the State Depository Board. The Flnance~ Commission has no authority to budget funds for this purpose as it Is not properly an expense incurredby the State Banking Board or State Bank~ing

Department. The Treasurer's officehas a line item appropriation for travel expenses for its own departmental employees only. It therefore follows that there
are no existing funds to reimburse the citizenmember of~the State Depository Board for his travel expenses. However, Senate ~111 

## 318

constitutespre-existing law, so as to enable a subsequentLegislature tomake an appropriation to reimburse the citizenmember for his prior travel expenses.
SUMMARY
The citizenmember replacing the Attorney General on the State Banking Board may be reimbursed for his travel expenses by funds set aside by the Finance Commission of Texas.
There are no existing funds to cover travel expenses of the citizenmember replacing the Attorney General on the State Depository Board.

Yotirs very truly,

FDW:ms

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Hon. Jesse James, page five 

## (C-127)

APPROVED:

OPINION COMMITTEE

W. V. Geppert, Chairman Milton Richardson John Reeves Dudley McCalla J. C. Davis

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: Stanton Stone

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