TIJIEAT~-!P~D~Y GENE~L 

OP TEXAS 

Honorable Oeo. II. Sheppard 

Cciaptroller of Public Aacounts 

Awtln, Texax 

Dear lllrr <)plnlon #IO. o-4365 

R&t 

Your letter of June 

two qucrtione relating to fhe 

aa followEr 

commuotiim of allocatlonn.to 

and appropriation8 out of the 

old AgeAurl&tnccINnd 

11th requeatlng our opinion on 

Old Age Aaolstanct Fund read8 

YJID AOE XSSxsTAwcE FUND FxpmDITuREs 

"senate Bill 490 (Artialc 70&a). Forty-seventh 

laturt, nmendlng Stctlon 2, Article XX, Houxe Blll 8 

the Regular Session ot -th$. Foey-seventh Ltg~l.+re 

LeglOOf 

ccemwnly known a8 the tiibw Tax Bill, ha6 to do ulth 

the allocation of the revenue6 derived frcm Certain ocaupatlcm and gross recelpte taxes, and reference is particularly 

made to the iollcmlng portion of Senate Bill No. 4901 

"#(4) After the above allocation8 and mnta have 

been made from such Cl earatweFund,thereahallbepald 

there!'raa into the Old-Age Aarlatanoa Fund on the flrot 

OS each Ronth, much l u, whloh, taken rlth other suma paid 

Into ruch Old-Age Amal8tenee Fund by virtue ot other law 

8tlll in force, will equal a total of b xflllon Seven 

Hundred Flrt~Thowazxl ($1,750,000.00) Dollare,and mueh 

mm la hereby appropriated for the wo provide6 by law 

for much Old-Age Amlstanoe Fund. Should ruch payment8 into 

the Old-Age A8(118tuktt Rud by virtue of other law8 exaeed 

One lUllion Seven Rundred Fifty Thowancl ($1,7~,COO.o0) 

Dollar8, in any one wnth, then not more than Cne eJilllon 

Seven lfundrecl Hfty Thousand (~1,750,000.09) Dollars or 

8uch e&all be expended for old-age asrletence in Fueh 

month EM the rtmalnder in exceea thenot shsl).-be withheld until the succwdiag month or months and be taken 

lnta cnnelderatla in allocating fund8 Fiat the Clearance 

Fund to the Old-Age dsslstanae Puti, ud the amount paid 

in from the Clearanue Fund into the Old-Age'Amlstance 

Fund rhall b e reduced l Ccordingly to the end that a sta- 
tonorablo Qeo. li. S&Oplrrd, p4ze 2 

~~~~~&ttup~~~l~~~krerred to above 

it has been the practice of thim dejnwtamt to sake a 

transferonthe flrstdsJofeach month frcathe Qmlbau 

clearanae hnd to the Old-Age A8slrtance Fund or an 

amount uhlch, when added to the cash balUrCe then in the 

Old-Age A8alatanee nun3 together ulth receipts to the trnd 

by virtue of other law will equal $1,750,000.03. In other 

word, on the tlMt d 

7 

of each aucceedlng month the balance 

Is nlred back to the l,~O,OOO.~. 

%e balance lxi the Old-Af$e hdmlnlatation find, uhlch 

fimd is tonaldared a part o? the Old-Age Amalatance Fund, 

although tarried in a separate account, 16 also cCnraldtmd 

.ln arrldng at the agount to be &ansferred when brlnglne 

the balance In the Old-Age Rsslstencc Ptmd up to the 

$1,730,600.00. Thl$ Old-Age 4dItlnlatratlon Pccount I8 

raintatned by tra8ferring suns f’rom the Old-Age &aalatanot 

Fund In amount6 aa 8nd when requested by the Public Ytlfare 

Depzkrtment.. The law dots not preacrlbe thla separate account, but the fast that the leglslatwe appropriates out 

of the Old-Age Aealetence Fxmd otrtaln amounta for admlnistratlan and the law ?urther limits the admlnlstratlvt coat 

to 3% o? asalatance paid makes it ntoeaaary to reparatt 

the accounta in wder to onntrol the expenditures. 

“Durlngeachaonththen are a nunibero~werrfinta 

cancelled, aaualng a c-it t.o the fund account and thereby 

ralalng the balance. Practically all of the cancellations 

are ofuarraaita whlehuere l8auedln some previous mmth 

Md again& that gn*iOUS IMAth. allOtIaMIt Or DOatf. Tht 

meet CQ~OD reamon for these cancellation8 l8 that the 

pensloner dlcs before reoelvlngbl8 uarant. The warranta 

are returned, cancalled and eredlted back to tbc fund In 

l ooe rubaequent month,wMBg that aonth’e total credits 

to l xccsd the grtatlonary 8um' of (1,750.ooO.00 

vnt11 recently the total wrMnt8 lamed against 

tk8e funds in a 8lngle month have not amounted to the 

$1,753,000.00, thereby leaving a balance an great as or 

greater than the amount of cancellatlowi to be taken into 

conaldtratlon In allocating the fund8 for the folloulog 

month uhen brlnglng the balance up to the rtqu@‘ed $1,75a, 

003.00. 

-lJou thlt the OM-Qe Asalatanoc grants and the cost 

of adainlatratlon together have reached and tight exceed 

the ~1~750,000.00 la a given month, the question arises 

u to the use of the or&its eaueed by the oancellatlon 

of url tame uarranta. I thtnrorc request your answer 

to the ro~loulng qut8tloM: 
. 

HonorableOeo.H.3)uppard, page 3, 

of t~l&-wlslon of the Aat quoted ln ~ollouing the 

IR the Captroller 8co~llahlng the PurW8e 

prsctlce of c~nslderlng she 888h b8lancc at the clo8e 

of one mnth la srklvlng at the maount to k transferred 

ao the lint of each mmth, even thigh thrrc right be 

an mdekrmkbed uaount of s6mlnlatratlw l Xpen8e accounts 

0utatudlng8ndunp8idutthctlme? 

"In wutrlng thl.8 queatlon @ease bear lm alnU that 

the&ire almkya 8ome unpaid sccounta while cut the other 

hand there rue current expenditures for 8upplle8 which 

are to be used throughout the future mnth8. Also, that 

One 8tatute (the knlbus Tax Bill) products the none7 

8Nle another authorire the cxpendlturea. * 

-2. 18 the Comptroller authorlred to l8aut durlk: 

any one month rsrrsnta for the psyment of old-sge aaalstanct and adminlatratlon coaablned totallng more than 

$1,750,003.00 if the amant ln excess of ~1,750,000.09 

la not greeter thsn the amount of cancelled utrranta 

credit described abwe? 

-1 8hall be glad to hew you confer vlth rtpr484ntttiwa of this department 8nd the Publfc Yelfsre Depsrtment 

if you wlah further detailed lnfoznatlon :b,bout the operation 

Of ule aCCoWit6 befor lpaklng JOUr IVPU. 

You q&c at the beglnnlng 0r pur letter that portlar 

of Senate Bill 490, Acts 47th Legislature, upon th8 CaeMructlon 

or rNch depends the 6naWera to your questions. 

Uhlle Senate Bill 490 8menda section 2 of Article XX 

of Abuse Bill 8 (Wnlbw Tax Bill) of the same resalon, that 

portiaa of Senate Bill 490 uhloh you quote, repeats unahsnged 

the asme provlslons 88 eaatalned In House Bill 8. The leglsltfive Intent 88 to said prwl~lon, fber8fore, m6y be ng8rded 

t8 unchang48 fraa Iioust~ZUll.iS, so thtt wtanaot look to other 

portlow of R. B. 490 for help in tsctrtslnlng the legtslatlw 

intent embodied ln the provlslrans under consldemtlon. 

& now constituted, payments into the 0ld"Age Aaalatante Fud art pads fraa two sources: . 

(1) The clcsrsnce fund and (2)'ctrtaln tsxe6'tihich are 

paid dlrectty into the Old Age A8alat8nce ?und. These letter . 

ar4 three-fourths of th4 rtwnuts collected trap tares on (a) 

calm-operated machlnts, (b) Bw1acIDcnt8, (c) ulna, b44r and 

liquor stamp taxes and (d) 811 the revenues frcu wine, beer 

ud liquor permits. 

-The revenues IYaa these t8x sourc~a, partlCUl8rl;t as 

A ;z ice; wlae sn&llquor permltr, vsry COn8iderabl.y from month 

. In the quoted statute, these Mwnuea are d48crlb4d 

.- _ 
Xonorable Oao. 8. Sheppard. page 4 

aa 'other sums paid Into tha Old-Age A&slstanca Fund by vlrtua 

of ot!wr lawa at111 In farce.' The utdoubtad Purbwee of tha 

quoted provlrlon was to asaura that thara ba available a 

8tatIonary sum of $1,750,000.00 per month', 1rrcSptctIvt of 

fluctuatIona in tht monthly raoe:pts from t!aa taxa8 which have 

baan spaclflcally allocatad ta the old hgc haslrtanca Fuacl. 

This purport is acaampllshad by the firat StnttnCt Of raid aubmtctlon (4), which read81 

'iftar the abwe allocations and paymanta have been 

made frcm such Clearance Fund, there rhsll. ba pald tharesrom fnto the old-Agt 4sslstanct Fund on tht rmt or 

each aonth, much sum, uhlch, taktn u:th other 8UmS paid 

into such old-4ga ABslstance Rurd by virtue of other laws 

etlll.ln force, will aqua1 a total of One HlllIon Swan 

Hundred ?lfty Thousand (~1,75O,OD9.03) Dollars, and such 

mum la her+by approprlatad for the* use provldad by law 

for such 9ld-Pgi? Assistance Fund. 

This aantanct a86urto that $1,75O,OQO.~ will be 

~~-d&ntotht Old Agt Assistance F'und on the first of each 

It dots not U&It the mrpandltura8 from the fund 

such kount each month. 

to 

Ror dots it provide that unexpendad 

balancas fmm preceding months in the Ol&.$gt Assistanct purd 

rhall ba conaldarad In dettr&nJ.ng fha amount uhich ahall be 

. paid ln from tht clearance fund. Tht $1,75O,COO.O0 paid lnto 

the Old &a Asdhmct Ru%d.cach month consists on- of the 

total rtvtnue darlvad from tha "other laws' during tht pracadlng month, plus whatever addltloml am may ba naceiwwy from 

tht clearance fund to m&a a total of ~1,~,000.00 And euch 

mm ti to bt p8Id into tha Old A@ A8816tmt Fund on tha r'irrt 

ofeverymonth,irraspactivt o~unaxpandadblanea8 frompravIouS 

mcmrtharemainlng in the fund. 

Tha second r&tenet of tht quoted prwl8Ion doe8 not 

lmprposa a gtntral limitation upon the amount whiah may ba expcadad 

each month from tha fund. A careiLllreadl~wIll l M.thattha 

entIra rtnteaca applies only In those month8 %n uhlch the rwtnutt 

from ‘other laws* txcead ~l,~~,OOO.QDt : 

Should such paymantn into the Old-Age Aaslstpnca 

Fiend by vlrtua ot other laws 8xcttd clne Xllllon Savta 

lkmdrtd Fifty Thousand ($1,750,000.00) Dolleu's,Jn any 

one month, than not more than Out Rilllon Seven Xundrad 

Fifty hou6and ($1,750,ooO.00) Dollar8 of l uch shall ba 

expandad for old-age asslatace In l uch month; and tht 

mnaitxlar in cxceem tbtreof shall be rlth!beld until tht 

sacceedng month or month8 and ba taken into consldaratlm 

in allocating fun& from the Cleuwnca PUnd to tha Old-Age 

Aulmtaacc Fund, aad the amount p81diln frcm the Claarance 

nmd lntdtht Old-Ag8 Aesirtance lhniil 8hall be reduead 

accordinglytotha end that* rtrtlolry rumof olt RIllia! +men -red Fll't~ Thowand (&750,000.00) 0011~~ 

y~,y$h bt awM@al f'rm Skk fund8 ior old-w 
Actually, the revenue tror *other lw8" hiw never 

axcatd, nor even approached ~l,~,OiW.OO ln any one month, 

a0 that thlr pro~l~lon haa never becoll~ OptMtlW. ~MQ ii 

It rhould baacue operative, it uould 1Imlt the expenditure out 

of the Old Agt X8slrt@nca Fund in that mouth to $l,75O,WO.O0 

only a8 to 'Isuch* money a8 uaa pal& ln that month. It would 

not forbid l sd:ng In addltlon to 'Luch* $1,750,009.00, other 

modes which might be In the Old &e A88fst8nCe ?und by virtue 

of unexptnded balances left wtr fran prlor‘month8. 

Tha final courseI *to tht and that a stationary 8um bf 

One Wlllon Seven Hundred 

per aonth be ava:lablc", 

Fifty Thousand ($1,750,000.00) hllar8 

la to be conatruad, we bellew, not to 

prescrfbe the amount which may be expanded, butkthe emount whlah 

18 to be al1oCateU to the 0ld Age Aslrlstanct Fund each month. 

Thus construed, the entire provlrlon undtr consldcrat:on l8 an 

allocation of monlae into the Old Ago Assiatanca Fund, rather 

than sn appropriation thereof. Ut find the appropriation of 

these funds in the Departmental Approprktlon Bill, S. D. 423, 

nets 47th Leg., In t?a fol:&:ng language: 

-'Ml fnconnca allocated or Qtansferrcd to the Old Age 

Assistance Fad by R. B. Wo. 3, Acts of the 47th Le&loleture, Aagular Sesaslon, or other revenue lawa, for t&e 

purpbuc of provldlng and admlnlstarlng old-age asslatanca, 

la hereby appropriated for each of the fiscal year8 ending 

Augunt 31, 1942, and Ru~uat 31, 1943, to the State Eepnrtmfnt of Fublle Welfare &or old age eB8IBtnnco paymcnt~ 

and for oalarlas, equipment, bupplla8, travel, lanntenance 

en4 cont*ant expenses nectmrary’ In the axtanslon of 6ald 

old-age a88Istance. 9 

This clearly conetituter, an approprlatlon for 

"each of the fiscal yearns, and cannot be construtd a8 bclng 

"each of the fiscal yteruE), and cannot be conzstrued am balng 

an approprlatlon on a-monthly bfdn. H. B. 8 and 5. 8. 499 

prwldt for the allocation to the Old Age ii88iatanoe ?und 

of $1,~0,O0O.O0 each month, and the abow provl8ion of 

S. IS.. 423, aporopriat&s:all the aonIes 80 allocated for 

each of .tht two flacel yeara. 

It follous from the foregoing anal&s that there 

may be expended from the Old hgt AssIat+%nCe Rxnd iwant 

month not only the $1,75O,OOO.O0 ellocated to 8ald fund on 

t?ke flwt of said month, but In addltlon thereto, suoh.' 

uncxpendtd balnnae as there may bt in tht fund by virtue 

of expendlttwes &ur?ng preceding months of the flaoal year 

having been belo%% $1,750,0OO.00. 

Turning nw to e comlderatinn of your tro questIon8. 

i&r first question Is ansuered In tht negatlvet i. a., we 

believe that you shWJl6 not aonslder the cash balance at the 

close of one month (that.Ia, the unexpended portlen of tht . 

atthc 8mounttobetransferredtrortJaealeaawm 

first of each month. T&t amount to be tran8rerred rrw the 

ClaaXWoe fund on the tint of the month IO the dlfftrenca 
Hon. oeorge II. sheppma, pcy 5 

between $l,~O,OOO.OO sncl the amount which has been psld into 

the old age aaslstanct rclnd fma %tkcc laan- aurlng the! wccedin& ma&h pluwany balance carried over because of an 

cxcee8 wer 4 1,75O,O#.OG, which may have been pa!d lnto the 

fund by virtut of other laws in prior ronths. 

Ut ahmrtr your second question In the af?irmatlvt; 

i. t., you say Issue during any one uonth warrantc for the 

payawnt of old a@ ao8lsrance and ebninlstratlon combined 

totaling 180x-t than $l,?~,O~.OG, If there ls an uncxpcrulcd 

balanct in the fund f%xu prior months to cover ruch excts8. 

The canctllcd warrant credit ta uhlch you refer may be one 

of the sources oi such uncxpcnded balance of f’unda prtvlou~ly 

allocatrd. 

Yours very truly 

BY 

Walter 3. Koch 

.48S iatant. 

bWCrmm:ba 

- hPFRWl?D JCL 3, 1042 

Oerald C. ti 

-’ 

2