Hon. George B. Butler, Chairman 

Board of Insurance Commissioners 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. v-1376. 

Be: Number of employees of 

the Board of Insurance 

Commissioners for whom 

travel expense funds are 

made available by the 

general appropriation 

bill for attending a 

meeting of the National 

Association of Insurance 

Dear Sir: Commissioners. 

You have requested an opinion of this office relating to the number of employees of the 

Board of Insurance Commissioners for whom travel 

expense funds are made available for attending a 

meeting of the National Association of Insurance 

Commissioners. 

Section 12(d) of the General Provisions of 

Article III House Bill 426, Acts 52nd Leg., R.S. 

1951, ch. 449 p. 1228 at p. 1436 (the general appropriation b i 11) prov 1 des in part; 

thrk 

In no event shall more than 

i3i persons from anv one (1) d&- 

be approved for travel to any 

convention or meeting of a slmilar nature.” 

You state in your letter: 

“It is the construction here among 

the three Co 

2” 

issioners that eat 

a 

of the 

Departments Life, Fire, Casualt may 

send three persons to the National ASSOciation of Insurance Commissioners meeting, and that their expense accounts will 

LJ Emphasis added throughout. 
. 

Bon. George B. Butler, page 2 (v-1376) 

properly be compensable under the 

above quoted section of the Appropriation Act. The reason for the 

construction is that under the provisions of Article 1.04 of the 1951 

Insjlrance Code the sunervn+ry functions ~of ‘the three Insurance Conunissionei% are spedflcally out&& andsegarrit”ed to the extent that, except 

when taking ~official action, the operatdotis &Apractically separated.” 

“In view of the premises, will 

you please advise us whether each of 

the three Commissioners may send 

three persons from their respective 

Departments to the meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for the purposes above 

outlined, and that the expense accounts of the respective persons so 

delegated are properly compensable 

under the current Appropriation Billon 

Subsequent to the date of your request 

we were officially advised that the Board would request travel authority from the Attorney General 

for three men only to attend the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting. 

In determining whether the Legislature 

considers the Board of Insurance Commissioners to be 

the head of three departments or the head of one department with three divisions, it Is necessary to 

look to the statutory scheme which established the 

Board. 

Articles l*ol-.25 constitute Chapter One of 

the Insurance Code 

1951 ch. 491 p* 8 b 8) 

s.~.,236 Acts 52nd Leg., R.S. 

ITS $OWERS AN!) DIJTIES.Z 

which Is titled “THE BOABD, 

An examination of these artic1e.s makes clear that the Legislature Intended the 

Board to be the head of one department with three dlvisions. Each d&vision is to serve a different function, but in the final analysis the divisions are but 

segments of the whole and not entitles within themselves. 
Hon. George B. Butler, page 3 (v-1376) 

The following quoted portions from the articles establishing the Board and defining its powers 

and duties support this proposition: 

Art. 1.04. Duties of the Commissioners 

“Generally, the Life Insurance Commissioner shall have supervision of matters relating to life insurance, to the 

examination and to the chartering of companies, certificates of authority, and as 

to the solvency of persons and corporations engaged in the insurance business; 

The Fire Insurance Commissioner shall 

have general supervision of matters relating to fire and allied lines, marine and 

inland marine insurance; and the Casualty 

Insurance Commissioner shall have general 

supervision of matters relating to casualty, motor vehicle, workmen’s compensation, fidelity, guaranty, title andlmiscellaneous insurance. The Boar sha 1 

nevertheless overate as a whole. and a 

majority vote of the members shall be ngcessarv to official action.” 

Art. 1.10. Duties of the Board 

“12. Report to Governor.--It shall 

report annually to the Governor the names 

and compensations of its clerks, the receipts and expenses of its deoarw for 

the year, its official acts, the condition 

of companies doing business in this State, 

and such other information as will exhibit 

the affairs of said deoartmgnf, . 

Art. 1.16. Expenses of Examinations* 

III:gt;ition of Sums Co i- 

“In case of an examination of a company not organized under the laws of Texas, 

whether such examination is made by the 

Texas authorities alone, or jointly with 

the insurance supervisory authorities of 

another state or states, the expenses of 

such examination due to Texas’ participation therein, shall be borne by the company 
Hon. George B. Butler, page 4 (v-1376) 

under examination. Payment of such 

cost shall be made by the company upon 

presentation of itemized written statement by the Chairman, and shall consist 

of the examiners* remuneration and expenses, and the other expenses of the 

Deoartment of Insurance properly allocable to the examination. . . .n 

Art. 1.17. Appointment of Examiners and 

Assistants and Actuary by 

Chairman of Board of Insurance Commissionersj Salaries 

n It Is the purpose of this article ini kticles 1.1.6 and 1.18 of this 

code to provide for the examination hereunder by the Chairman of the Board of Insurance Commissioners of all corporations, 

firms or persons engaged In the business 

of writing insurance of any kind in this 

State whether now subject to the ;;p;er;islon of the Dsurance Denartm& . 

‘1. . e 

“Where the Chairman of the Board 

shall deem it advisable he may commission 

the actuary of the Board, the chief examiner. or any other examiner or employee 

of the DeD rtment or any other pirSbn 

to conductaor ass& in the examinatloi of 

any company not organized under the laws 

of Texas and allow them compensation as 

herein provided, . . .I1 

Art. 1.22. Free Access to Records 

“To verify the correctness of records, 

the Board shall be entitled to free access 

to the Treasurer’s records, required by the 

preceding article, and the Treasurer shall 

be entitled to free access to the books and 

other documents of the Jnsurance DePartma 

relating to securities held by the Board.” 

We think the above provisions amply justify 

our conclusion that the Legislature intended to establish a single Insurance department with three dlvisions, not three separate departments. 
Hon. George B. Butler, page 5 ('-1.376) 

, 

The quoted portion of Section 12(d) of 

the appropriation bill, a does not attempt to 

alter, amend, or change any o ) the statutory duties 

of the Board. The attempt to make such a change by 

rider In a general appropriation bill would be invalid. Attly Gen. Op. V-1254 (1951). However, the 

rider does not limit your authority to send as many 

persons as you deem necessary to the meeting if such 

attendance is In pursuance of statutory duties. The 

rider to the appropriation bill merely limits appropriated travel expense funds to three persons from 

one department to any one meeting. This is entirely 

proper In an appropriation bill. 

92 Tex. 451, 49 S.W. 578 (1899Ja %!%dkg 

expenses of only three persons may be paid from the 

appropriated funds, even though a greater number may 

attend the meeting. 

The final question is to determine the 

meaning intended by the Legislature for the word “department” as used in the appropriation bill rider, 

limiting the number of persons for whom travel pay 

was appropriated. 

The appropriation to the Board of Insurance Commissioners Is found in Article III of the general appropriation bill. (H.B. 426, guora) 

Section 1 of Article III provides: 

“The several sums of money herein 

specified, or so much thereof as may be 

necessary, are hereby appropriated out 

of any funds in the estate Treasury not 

otherwise appropriated, or out of special 

funds as indicated, for the support and 

maintenance of the wcutive and &g&&gand at?- of the 

State of Texas for the two-year period 

beglnnlng September 1, 195l., and ending 

August 31, 1953." 

Following the above will be found the appropriation to the Board of Insurance Commissioners, subheaded Life Division (p. 1360); Casualty Insurance Division (p. 1366); and Fire Insurance Division (p. 1372). 
HOL George B. Butler, page 6 (v-1376) 

Section 2(f) of the General Provisions of 

Article III requires the Auditor to certify to the 

Comptroller all departments that have failed to make 

a required report and provides for withholding the 

warrant of the head of the department. The rider 

then provides: 

“. . . Heads of departments as used 

herein shall be defined as elected and appointed officials, members of Commissions, 

Boards, etc., and/or the chief admfnistrative officer of such Department, Board, 

Commission, Bureau or Agency for which appropriations are made herein.” 

We think the above provisions demonstrate 

that the word ltdepartmentl’ was used to mean each of 

the various State agencies and departments which 

functions as an entity under its statutory powers. 

You are therefore advised that the Board of Insurance 

Commissioners, as the head of one department, has an 

appropriation for travel expense for not more than 

three persons going to any one convention or meeting 

of a similar nature 

4 

and we agree with the action of 

the Board in reques ing travel authority for three 

men only to attend the meeting inquired about. 

The practice thus far followed by 

the Board of Insurance Commissioners in 

not requesting travel approval for more 

than three persons to any one convention 

or meeting of a similar nature Is correct i The Legislature in creating an 

Insurance Commission created a single 

department with three divisions rather 

than three separate departments, and the 

Board of %surance Commissioners, as the 

head of one department, has approprlation for travel expense for not more than 

three persons goin~g to any one convention 
Hon. George B. Butler, page 7 

or meeting of a similar nature. Art i-~. 

1.01~1.25,, .InsurancEe,CodQ, Bad EsB, 426, 

Acts'52nd Leg., RI& 1951, ?h. 499,* p, 

1228. 

APPROVED: Yours very truly 

C. K. Richards PRICE DANIEL 

Trial & Appellate Dlvlslon Attorney General 

E. Jacobson 

Reviewing Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

EWT:wb