.---_ 

Honorable J. E. Winfree, Chairman 

Rules committee 

House of Representatives 

Forty-ninth Legislature 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Mr. Winfree: Opinion Roe. O-6617 

Rer Wether or not a proposed oonstitutional amendment authorized 

by H.J.R. Wo. ,13 to be submitted 

on the fourth Saturday of August, 

1945, may be legally submitted at 

the General Election in 1946 without further action on the part of 

the Legislature. 

We beg to acknorledge receipt of your request for an opinion 

upon the above subject matter, as follows: 

"w+%. 

"H.J.R. No. 13 relative to the $SS Yilllon Dollar ceiling 

on Old Age Pensions and other matters has passed both 

the House and the Senate. ~.~ This proposed Constitutional 

Amendment Is to be submitted to the people of Texas on 

the 4th Saturday of August according to the terms and 

provisions of the Resolution itself. 

"It seems that a question has arisen since publication has 

not been made in all the Counties of Texas, and this 

question goes directly to the validity of the proposed 

election. 

"If this matter can not be ,legally submitted in August 

1945, can this proposed Constitutional Amendment be 

leeglly submitted to the people and voted on by them at 

the General Election of 1946 without further action on 

the part of the Legislature, 

It is-the -studied opinion of this Department that your inquiry 

should be answered in the negative. 

Section 1 of Article XVII of the Constitution, insofar as 
Honorable J. B. Winfree - page 2, O-6617 

pertinent, reads as follows: 

"MS. The Legislature, at any biennial session, by a 

vote of two-thirds of all the members elebted to each 

House, to be entered by yeas and nays on the journals, 

may propose amendments to the Constitution, to be voted 

upon by the qualified electors for members of the 

Legislature, which proposed amendment shall be duly 

published once a week for four weeks, commencing at least 

three months before an election, the time of which shall 

be specified by the Legislature, in one we~ekly newspaper 

of each county in which such a newspaper may be published; 

4w&. " 

In our opinion No. O-6612 this day released to the Honorable 

Claude Isbell, Secretary of State, involving this Section of 

the Constitution with respect to the provision for publication 

of notice, we held that the provisions of the Constitution 

were mandatory, for which we cited an opinion of this Department of more than twenty years' standing, when the late Judge 

Keeling was Attorney General of Texas, holding the same thing. 

It will be seen from the portion of Section 1 above quoted that 

the time of the holding of an, election to determine the adoption 

of a constitutional amendment "shall be specified by the 

Legislature." If in the present case the amendment should be 

submitted, at the general election to be held throughout the 

State in 1946 without further action by the Legislature, it 

would be at a time not "specified by the Legislature", and 

therefore at a time not.authorized by the Constitution which 

provides the sole method for amending the Constitution. It is 

not ours to speculate as to the reason for this specific requirement, but it is ours to obey the plain unambiguous language 

of the Constitution itself. It has, we believe, been the 

universal construction of the.Legislature itself in submitting 

such amendments to specify the time of the election, whether 

the same be at a general or special election.~ 

Trusting that what we have said satisfactorily answers your 

inquiry, we are 

Very truly yours 

ATTORREYGENERAL OF TEXAS 

s/ Ocie Speer 

, 

APPROVED MAY 30, 1243 'BY 

a/ Grover Sellers 

ATTORNEX GENERAL OF TEXAS 

Ocie Speer 

Assistant 

OS-MR/cg Approved Opinion Committee By BWB, Chairman