Source: http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/state-board-education-v-levit-32809
Timestamp: 2013-05-19 21:27:33
Document Index: 178685178

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 7', '§ 115', '§ 13370', '§ 34', '§ 1', '§ 9', '§ 13070', '§ 13320', '§ 13322', '§ 13323', '§ 117', '§ 11184', '§ 11272', '§ 13323', '§ 11156', '§ 11155', '§ 11154', '§ 1', '§ 22', 'Art. 1', '§ 22', '§ 22', '§ 11273']

State Board of Education v. Levit - 52 Cal.2d 441 - Thu, 07/02/1959 | California Supreme Court Resources	Stanford Law School - Robert Crown Law Library
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State Board of Education v. Levit , 52 Cal.2d 441
This is an original proceeding in mandamus. The petitioner, the State Board of Education, is authorized [52 Cal.2d 446] by the state Constitution to "provide, compile, or cause to be compiled, and adopt, a uniform series of textbooks for use in the day and evening elementary schools throughout the State ... [and to] cause such textbooks, when adopted, to be printed and published. ..." (Const., art. IX, § 7.) The respondent is the state executive officer in charge of the Department of Finance. This department is charged by law with the duty of executing promptly all orders for printing received from state agencies fn. 1 and all orders of the State Board of Education for printing must be approved and supervised by the Department of Finance. (Ed. Code, §§ 115, 4801 and 11221.) fn. 2
The respondent originally refused to comply with these [52 Cal.2d 447] printing orders solely because of the restrictive provision appearing in item 435 which reads: "None of the moneys appropriated by this item shall be expended for publishing, purchasing, shipping, or paying royalties for the books known as 'Science for Work and Play' and 'Science for Here and Now.' " In his return to the alternative writ the respondent took the further position that he has no duty to comply with these orders because the contract with D. C. Heath and Company has not been presented to him for approval and until approved by him it is ineffective under the specific provisions of Government Code, section 13370. fn. 4 He therefore now contends that he has no duty to execute printing orders with respect to a contract which has never become effective because not approved by him, and for which no funds have been appropriated if the restrictive provision of budget item 435 is valid.
" 'For publishing, purchasing and shipping free textbooks, Department of Education, in accordance with the following schedule. ... $9,049,496 ... None of the moneys appropriated [52 Cal.2d 448] by this item shall be expended for publishing, purchasing, shipping, or paying royalties for the books known as "Science for Work and Play" and "Science for Here and Now." '
the appropriation item. [52 Cal.2d 449]
It is contended in the return to the alternative writ that the petitioner's selection of textbooks is in no way affected either by the Legislature's refusal to appropriate funds for these two books in the Budget Act of 1958 or by the respondent's refusal to print them and charge their cost against funds appropriated in item 435. It alleges that the Governor's Budget for the fiscal year 1958-1959, as submitted to the Legislature on February 3, 1958, had recommended the sum of $8,854,711 for printing and royalties for textbooks; that the Legislature thereafter rejected a request made by the board, through the Department of Education, for an augmentation of these funds in the sum of $1,683,839, and that in appropriating the sum recommended in the Governor's Budget [52 Cal.2d 450] the Legislature had provided that no moneys were thereby appropriated for the publishing of first and second grade science textbooks. These textbooks, the return alleges, were the first supplemental textbooks adopted in science at the first and second grade levels and that they had been adopted on a distribution ratio of one book for each two pupils. The respondent contends that under the Legislature's general powers over the curriculum of the public elementary schools it has a right to refuse to appropriate money for printing and distributing textbooks covering subjects which it has not yet established as part of the curriculum. It also contends that when the Legislature was not able to provide funds for the whole textbook program adopted by the board, the Legislature had a right to determine for which part of the program it would make an appropriation and for which part it would not make an appropriation. The respondent therefore takes the position that he is under no duty to execute printing orders with respect to a contract which has never become effective (Gov. Code, § 13370) and for which no funds have been appropriated.
A replication has been filed by the petitioner in which it is admitted that the contract was neither submitted to nor approved by the respondent. It argues that this contract is one of a class or type which the respondent has excepted from the requirements of section 13370 pursuant to section 13372 of the Government Code. This latter section allows the respondent to "except from this article certain classes or types of contracts of any particular State agency and authorize it to enter into such contracts without submitting them for approval. Written notice of exceptions shall be given to the State agency and the Controller." The replication alleges that there has been a long-standing administrative practice on the part of the petitioner not to submit, and of the respondent not to require formal submission or approval of such contracts, and that the controller has always honored claims based on textbook contracts which he knew had not been formally submitted and approved by the respondent. In view of this administrative practice and the statements made in the respondent's letters of October 30, 1958, and February 2, 1959, some notice should have been given, the petitioner urges, that there would be a change in this practice or that the refusal to honor these printing orders would be also based on the failure to first submit to the respondent for his approval [52 Cal.2d 451] the contract between the board and the publisher for the plates.
A brief has been filed in support of the respondent by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee as amicus curiae. fn. 5 This committee was originally created at the 1941 session of the Legislature for the specific purpose of giving the Legislature information upon the basis of which it could exercise greater control over the appropriation of state moneys. It requested permission to appear because of its concern with respect to the issues presented, namely, the validity of item 435 and of Government Code, section 13370. In a series of unpublished opinions the attorney general had held that section 13370 is unconstitutional insofar as textbook contracts are concerned and that they need not be submitted to the respondent for approval. fn. 6 In 1958 conflicting opinions were issued by the attorney general fn. 7 and by the Legislative Counsel fn. 8 as to the validity of item 435. Amicus curiae urge that the provisions [52 Cal.2d 452] of section 13370 of the Government Code and of item 435 of the Budget Act of 1958 may be so interpreted as not to encroach upon the state board's constitutional power of textbook adoption and that the writ should be denied. Other amici curiae also appear.
The Legislature has itself provided in section 1858 of the Code of Civil Procedure that "In the construction of a statute ... the office of the judge is simply to ascertain and declare what is in terms or in substance contained thereon, not to insert what has been omitted, or to omit what has been inserted. ..." Section 1859 requires that "In the construction of a statute the intention of the legislature ... is to be pursued, if possible. ..." [1] All presumptions and intendments are in favor of constitutionality. The general rule is that the invalidity of a legislative act must be clear before it can be declared unconstitutional. (Johnson v. Superior Court, 50 Cal.2d 693, 696 [329 P.2d 5]; State v. Industrial Acc. Com., 48 Cal.2d 365, 371 [310 P.2d 7]; Lundberg v. County of Alameda, 46 Cal.2d 644, 652 [298 P.2d 1].) [2a] Notwithstanding this rule the facts in this case do not warrant upholding the restriction in item 435, and it must be concluded that the respondent should be ordered to disregard the restriction in considering the printing orders which are the subject of this proceeding. No invalidity has been found as to Government Code, section 13370, as hereinafter construed.
Preliminarily, it should be noted that this state operates under the executive budget system pursuant to the Budget Amendments of the Constitution. (Art. IV, § 34, adopted in 1922, amended in 1946, and § 1a, adopted in 1934.) Section 34 of article IV requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature at each regular session of the Legislature a budget containing a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state, and to accompany the budget [52 Cal.2d 453] with an appropriation bill covering the proposed expenditures to be known as the Budget Bill. The Governor may require any board to furnish him with any information which he may deem necessary in connection with the budget. The Legislature is directed to enact all laws necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this section and is authorized to enact additional provisions which are therewith not inconsistent. The section specifically provides that "In case of conflict between this section and any other portion of this Constitution, the provisions of this section shall govern. ..." Section 1a of article IV provides that "Notwithstanding any limitations or restrictions in this Constitution contained, every State ... board ... or other agency of the State, whether created by initiative law or otherwise, shall be subject to the regulations and requirements with respect to the filing of claims with the State Controller and the submission, approval and enforcement of budgets prescribed by law." Under our system, regular sessions of the Legislature are held in the odd-numbered years. All sessions in even-numbered years are known as budget sessions. Section 2, subdivision (a) of article IV of the Constitution provides that at the budget sessions the Legislature "shall consider only the Budget Bill for the succeeding fiscal year, revenue acts necessary therefor, the approval or rejection of charters ... and acts necessary to provide for the expenses of the session." The Governor may, "on extraordinary occasions, convene the Legislature by proclamation, stating the purposes for which he has convened it, and when so convened it shall have no power to legislate on any subjects other than those specified in the proclamation, but may provide for the expenses of the session and other matters incidental thereto." (Const., art. V, § 9.) The budget bill in question was first introduced at the regular budget session of 1958. The houses deadlocked and adjourned without the budget bill being passed. It also failed of passage in the First Extraordinary Session. The call for the Second Extraordinary Session of 1958, at which the budget bill was adopted, directed the Legislature "To consider and act upon the Budget Bill for the succeeding fiscal year and the revenue acts necessary therefor." (Sen. Journal, 2d Ex. Sess., March 31, 1958, p. 2.)
The Legislature has given the Department of Finance general powers of supervision over all matters concerning the financial and business policies of the state. (Gov. Code, § 13070.) Every state agency is required to submit to the Department of Finance for approval a complete and detailed [52 Cal.2d 454] budget at such time and in such form as may be prescribed by the department (Gov. Code, § 13320). Before or after approval, the department may revise, alter, or amend any fiscal year budget, if, in its opinion, revision, alteration or amendment is required in the interest of the state. (Gov. Code, § 13322.) The department may, upon request of a state agency at any time during the fiscal year, authorize transfers between its budget allotments, including reserves. (Gov. Code, § 13323.) When budget items have been approved by the Director of Finance, the Governor's budget is prepared for presentation to the Legislature, pursuant to the requirements of section 34 of article IV of the Constitution.
The State Board of Education is required to submit its estimated textbook cost requirements to the Governor biennially, for inclusion in the Governor's budget (Ed. Code, § 117) and in the Budget Bill as the "Free Textbook Item." Since the 1912 amendment to section 7 of article IX of the Constitution, textbooks adopted by the board are required to be furnished and distributed by the state free of cost to all children attending the public elementary schools. This section provides that these textbooks must be adopted for a minimum period of four years without any change or alteration which will require or necessitate the furnishing of new books to pupils. The Legislature has further prescribed that adoptions shall be made for not less than four nor more than eight years, and that readoptions may be made for a period of not less than one nor more than four years. (Ed. Code, § 11184 [1957 Amendment]; former § 11272, provided adoption and readoption periods of six to eight years.) Because of the limitations of the adoption periods and the continuing nature of the problem of providing textbooks to meet the needs of the public elementary schools, the board makes annual adoptions and submits annual budget requests for an appropriation for printing and royalties for free textbooks. These budget requests are made up considerably in advance of the Governor's budget and are necessarily imprecise, being based on many variables, including the estimated number of pupils, distribution pattern, anticipated adoptions, and estimated printing costs. The board has traditionally deviated from these estimates after the appropriation is made (subject to approval of the Department of Finance as to the availability of funds, Gov. Code, § 13323), frequently publishing more or less books than contemplated, and sometimes printing books that were not included in the original [52 Cal.2d 455] estimate. The appropriation is requested and made in a lump sum without specific itemization of particular textbooks.
In late 1957 the board submitted a budget request for the fiscal year 1958-1959 in the amount of $15,282,733 for estimated printing and royalty costs for free textbooks. At the request of the Department of Finance this request was scaled downward and the sum of $9,854,711 was requested. At that time the board did not know the specific books which it would furnish under the requested appropriation, but it knew that the State Curriculum Commission was studying science texts for use in the elementary schools and that there had been an insistent demand for an improved science program with up-to-date textbooks in the elementary grades. The commission is authorized by the Legislature to study textbooks submitted to the State Board of Education for adoption and to make recommendations to the board (Ed. Code, § 11156) and to recommend specifications for textbooks for uniform use so that the textbooks adopted shall conform to the minimum standard for courses of study. (Ed. Code, § 11155.) The board did not know which books the commission would recommend but it assumed that it would recommend the adoption of a science series for the elementary grades with a distribution pattern of [52 Cal.2d 456] one book per pupil in each of the eight grades, and that a two-year supply would be furnished. The Department of Finance reduced this second request $1,000,000 by providing, for economy reasons, for a one-year instead of a two-year supply of books. This sum as so reduced, $8,854,711, was the sum recommended in the Governor's budget and was the sum actually appropriated by the Legislature in the Budget Act of 1958, for printing and royalties for free textbooks. This was a lump sum appropriation.
Subsequent to the introduction of the Budget Bill but before it was acted upon, the Curriculum Commission made its recommendations and on March 6, 1958, the board adopted four new series in science, handwriting, health and spelling. The science series adopted is known as the Heath Elementary Series, and is a coordinated series prepared and adopted for grades one through eight as a uniform series. The board adopted a distribution plan of one book per two pupils in grades one through three, with one book per pupil for grades four to eight, for a period of not less than four nor more than eight years. The board then sought to obtain an augmentation of its textbook appropriation from the Legislature. Failing to obtain additional funds in the budget item, the board then reappraised its textbooks requirements, taking into consideration [52 Cal.2d 457] the textbooks adopted since the submission of the Governor's budget, and readjusted its program to provide for those textbooks which in its best educational judgment, should and could be furnished from the limited funds available. In readjusting its program it provided sufficient unencumbered funds in the appropriation to be made by item 435 to cover the costs of printing and royalties for the Heath science series. "Science for Work and Play" and "Science for Here and Now" were adopted for grades one and two as an integral part of this series. As above noted, the original budget contemplated a science series for each grade, although the exact textbooks had not at that time been decided upon.
It has been a long-standing administrative practice on the part of the board not to submit, and of the Department of Finance not to require submission, of these contracts for approval, and printing orders and claims for royalty costs have been honored by the Department of Finance and the State Controller. fn. 10 Whether this practice stemmed from reliance on [52 Cal.2d 458] opinions of the attorney general that contracts of this nature were not subject to the provisions of Government Code, section 13370 (Op. Nos. supra, 2330 [July 25, 1912]; NS 584 [Sept. 15, 1937]; NS 584a [Nov. 8, 1937]) or whether they were informally approved fn. 11 does not clearly appear. No written exceptions pursuant to Government Code, section 13372, appear to have been made. We are informed by the petitioner that the printing of some textbooks, including the balance of the Heath science series, has been approved by the respondent and is now in progress although the contract with the publisher was not formally submitted to nor approved by the respondent.
[5] Section 13070 of the Government Code gives to the Department of Finance "general powers of supervision over all matters concerning the financial and business policies of the State. ..." This court has held that the purpose of legislation such as section 13070 is "to conserve the financial [52 Cal.2d 459] interests of the state, to prevent improvidence, and to control the expenditure of state money by any of the several departments of the state." (State v. Brotherhood of R.R. Trainmen, 37 Cal.2d 412, 422 [232 P.2d 857].) The provisions of section 13370 are imbued with the same purpose and design. As amicus curiae suggests, the Legislature, without intending to interfere with the constitutional function of the State Board of Education in any way, may have thought it necessary for some responsible fiscal officer of the state to approve textbook contracts from the point of view of fiscal soundness only. [6] Review of a contract prior to its effectiveness is a proper requirement to insure that conditions have been met (e.g., Ed. Code, § 11154, cost to be paid from funds specifically appropriated for that purpose; Ed. Code, sections 11157-11158, procedural requirements in the adoption process; Ed. Code, section 11181.1, Gov. Code, sections 13370.1, 13370.2, formalities in bidding). [7] Like other agencies of government the State Board of Education is subject to supervision of its fiscal affairs by the appropriate financial officers of the state, to supervision of its expenditures, and to the control and enforcement of its budgets. (Const., art. IV, §§ 1a, 34.) Approval of textbook contracts required by section 13370 of the Government Code is an appropriate device for carrying out this fiscal control and supervision.
In considering the main issue, namely, the validity of the restrictive provision in item 435, this court is requested to define the scope of the textbook powers of the State Board of Education, as conferred on it by the provisions of section 7 of article IX of the Constitution, and to define the powers of the Legislature both with respect to appropriations and general statutes where the purchase and distribution of textbooks is concerned. [52 Cal.2d 460]
[9] Before examining further the provisions of section 7, article IX of the Constitution, it should be noted that the Constitution of 1879 provides in section 22 of article I, as follows: "The provisions of this Constitution are mandatory and prohibitory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise." As early as January 1881 this court held in Matter of Maguire, 57 Cal. 604, at page 609 [40 Am.Rep. 125], as follows: "The Constitution furnishes a rule for its own construction. That rule is that its provisions are 'mandatory and prohibitory, unless by expressed words they are declared to be otherwise.' (Art. I, § 22.) We find no such express words in the Constitution. This rule is an admonition placed in this the highest of laws in this State, that its requirements are not meaningless, but that what is said is meant, in brief, 'we mean what we say.' Such is the declaration and command of the highest sovereignty among us, the people of this State, in regard to the subject under consideration." Thereafter, in 1886, in Oakland Paving Co. v. Hilton, 69 Cal. 479 [11 P. 3], this section was referred to and at page 512 it was held: "... [U]nder our constitution no question can be made whether the provision in it for its amendment is mandatory or directory. That question is settled by the constitution itself, which ordains in the most solemn form and manner that each and all of its provisions are mandatory and prohibitory, unless by express words declared to be otherwise. (Art. 1, § 22.) This section, in our judgment, not only commands that its provisions shall be obeyed, but that disobedience of them is prohibited. Under the stress of this rule, it is the duty of this court to give effect to every clause and word of the constitution, and to take care that it shall not be frittered away by subtle or refined or ingenious speculation. The people use plain language in their organic law to express their intent in language which cannot be misunderstood, and we must hold that they meant what they said." In 1911 this court took judicial notice of the purpose of the framers of the Constitution of 1879 in enacting section 22 of article I and held in Clark v. Los Angeles, 160 Cal. 30, at page 41 [116 P. 722]: "Section 22, as is well known, was inserted because of certain previous decisions holding that the provisions of the constitution of 1849 regarding the titles of legislative acts were directory and not mandatory." In People v. City of San Buenaventura (1931), 213 Cal. 637, it was held at pages 639-640 [3 P.2d 3]: "This declaration applies to all sections [52 Cal.2d 461] of the Constitution alike, and is binding upon any department of the state government, legislative, executive or judicial. (People v. California Fish Co., 166 Cal. 576 [138 P. 79].) In People v. Gunn, 85 Cal. 238 [24 P. 718], this court followed its decision in an earlier case, and said: 'The language of Judge Cooley in his work on Constitutional Limitations, page 78, quoted and adopted in State v. Rogers, 10 Nev. 253 [21 Am.Rep. 738], is directly in point, and shows that, even in the absence of a clause making its provisions mandatory and prohibitory, the court will not hold the provisions of a constitution to be directory or unessential, but will rather hold that wherever it prescribes a mode, that mode is the measure of power.' In Blanchard v. Hartwell, 131 Cal. 263, 264 [265] [63 P. 349, 350] it was again said, 'under such provisions the mode is the measure of the power.' 'Such mode,' said the court, 'is exclusive. Under such constitution this seems indisputable. The one mode ... is commanded and all others are prohibited.' To the same effect is the decision in Doran v. Foster, 189 Cal. 610 [209 P. 548]." In Santa Clara County v. Superior Court (1949), 33 Cal.2d 552, this court again held in no uncertain terms, at page 554 [203 P.2d 1], as follows: "Unquestionably, it must be recognized that our Constitution (art. I, § 22) makes its provisions 'mandatory and prohibitory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise'; that this declaration applies to all sections of our Constitution alike, and every one subject to its mandate--county authorities as well as departments of the state government--must comply." The provisions of section 22 of article I are therefore binding upon this court in its construction of the provisions of the Constitution.
[10] A well-known principle of constitutional construction should also be noted. This is stated by Judge Cooley in his treatise on Constitutional Limitations (8th ed. 1927) page 215 as follows: "[S]uch powers as are specially conferred by the constitution upon the governor, or upon any other specified officer, the legislature cannot require or authorize to be performed by any other officer or authority; and from those duties which the constitution requires of him he cannot be excused by law." [11] And again, at page 221, he states this rule: "Those matters which the constitution specifically confides to [a specified body or agency] the legislature cannot directly or indirectly take from his control." This principle has been applied in this state. (See Laisne v. California State Board [52 Cal.2d 462] of Optometry, 19 Cal.2d 831, 835 [123 P.2d 457]; Martello v. Superior Court, 202 Cal. 400 [261 P. 476]; Sheehan v. Scott, 145 Cal. 684 [79 P. 350]; People v. Board of Education of Oakland, 55 Cal. 331; People ex rel. Smith v. Judge Twelfth District, 17 Cal. 547, 548.)
[15] The provisions of section 7 of article IX of the Constitution read in pertinent part as follows: "The Legislature shall provide for the appointment or election of a State Board of Education, and said board shall provide, compile, or cause to be compiled, and adopt, a uniform series of textbooks for use in the day and evening elementary schools throughout the State. The State board may cause such textbooks, when adopted, to be printed and published by the Superintendent of State Printing, at the State Printing Office; and wherever and however such textbooks may be printed and published, they shall be furnished and distributed by the State free of cost or any charge whatever, to all children attending the day and evening elementary schools of the State, under such conditions as the Legislature shall prescribe. The textbooks, so adopted, shall continue in use not less than four years, without any change or alteration whatsoever which will require or necessitate the furnishing of new books to such pupils, and said State board [52 Cal.2d 463] shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. ..."
[19] The scope of the board's powers under section 7 was forcefully and clearly stated at some length in Smith v. State Board of Control (1932), 215 Cal. 421 [10 P.2d 736]. It was there said, commencing at page 427: "By the first sentence thereof it is made the duty of the State Board of Education to adopt a uniform series of text-books for the use of the elementary schools of the state. [20] The text-books adopted may either be compiled by the State Board ... or the board may cause the same to be compiled, or the board may otherwise provide said text-books for use in the elementary department of the school. ... It may lease the plates from some person ... that has compiled a suitable text-book, or it may purchase said text- books outright. ... Whether other methods may or may [52 Cal.2d 464] not be followed is not material, as there is nothing in this section of the Constitution which makes it obligatory upon the board to pursue any particular method. [21] On the other hand, by the plain terms of the section, the board is given the power to provide said text-books in such manner as the board in the judgment of its members may determine. Under this power it has the right to purchase said text-books for the uses and purposes designated in said section."
[22] Amicus curiae suggests that if any "constitutional sanctity" attaches to the board's adoption of textbooks, it is limited to those books covered by the language "a uniform series of textbooks for use" in the elementary schools, and is therefore limited to those subjects in which the Legislature has prescribed that classes must be given and that textbooks must, or need not, be furnished. fn. 13 However, it does not appear that any such interference with the board's broad power of selection is sanctioned by section 7. The phrase "uniform series of textbooks for use" in the schools not only connotes the uniform use of the series adopted (Ed. Code, § 11273) but the use of a uniform or coordinated series of textbooks. It is noted that the textbooks "Science for Work and Play" and "Science for Here and Now" were adopted by the board as an integral part of a coordinated science series, a uniform series intended for uniform use in each grade and in each public elementary school. [23] Science is not one of the courses of [52 Cal.2d 465] study prescribed in section 10302 of the Education Code and therefore the board was not required to furnish basic textbooks therein. However, that section authorizes the board to provide basic textbooks in "such other studies not to exceed three as may be prescribed by" local boards and section 11151 authorizes it to provide "other textbooks, supplementary textbooks, and teachers' manuals." Neither at the time "Science for Work and Play" and "Science for Here and Now" were adopted or subsequently has there been put into law any prohibition against teaching science in the first and second grades nor any requirement that if this subject is taught in those grades it should be taught without the use of books.
The petitioner concedes that the Legislature has the right to determine the curriculum of the public elementary schools and to determine in what courses textbooks shall or shall not be used. It concedes that the Legislature could provide that no textbooks should be furnished for science classes, that science classes should not be taught in grades one and two, or that science classes should not be taught in those grades with textbooks. However, it maintains that if textbooks are to be used they shall be selected by the state board. Its choice of textbooks may be affected by the amount of the appropriation [52 Cal.2d 466] which the Legislature may make, by the form in which the appropriation is made, or by curriculum regulations. However, it argues that the Legislature may not validly interfere with the ultimate selection of textbooks made by the State Board of Education by a restrictive provision such as that contained in item 435.
­FN 1. Government Code, section 13570. "The department shall execute promptly all orders for printing or binding received from the various State agencies."
­FN 2. Education Code, section 115: "The board [of Education] shall cause the ... officer having the management of State printing to do any printing required by it. All orders for printing shall first be approved by the Department of Finance."
­FN 3. Stats. 1958, 2d Ex. Sess., Chap. 1. Budget item 435 of this act will be hereafter referred to as "item 435."
­FN 4. Government Code, section 13370. "All contracts entered into by any state agency for (a) the hiring or purchase of equipment, supplies, materials, or of textbooks for use in the day and evening elementary schools of the State ... are of no effect unless and until approved by the Department of Finance. Every such contract shall be transmitted with all papers, estimates, and recommendations concerning it to the department and, if approved by the department, shall be effective from the date of such approval. This section shall apply to any state agency which by general or specific statute is expressly or impliedly authorized to enter into transactions referred to herein. ..."
­FN 5. The Legislative Counsel was authorized to represent the Joint Legislative Budget Committee as amicus curiae by chapter 114 of the Resolutions of the 1959 Legislature. (A.C.R. 99.)
­FN 6. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 2330 (July 25, 1912); Atty. Gen. Op. No. NS 584 (Sept. 15, 1937); Atty. Gen. Op. No. 584a (Nov. 8, 1937).
­FN 7. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 58/148 (Aug. 4, 1958; 32 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 55).
­FN 8. Opinion of Legislative Counsel, "Textbook Appropriation #4111" (Oct. 6, 1958).
­FN 9. 32 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 55, supra.
­FN 10. The exhibits include the following: Letter from State Controller's office dated April 20, 1959, advising that that office had not been requiring evidence of Department of Finance approval of contracts entered into by the State Board of Education for payment of royalties on textbook material, and that the practice of that office dates back about twenty years. An affidavit from Chief of the Bureau of Textbooks and Publications of the State Department of Education dated April 21, 1959, states that during his 27 years as Chief, these contracts have not been approved or submitted for approval to the State Department of Finance, and that he knows of no instance during that time in which the department has requested submission of such contracts or refused to execute printing requisitions based on such contracts because they had not been approved; also that payment of royalties to publishers has been made with full knowledge and consent of the Department of Finance.
­FN 11. It is noted that section 13370 does not require written approval. Amicus curiae suggests that "Even if no formal approval by the Director of Finance has been given for earlier textbook contracts because of the Attorney General's various opinions on the subjects, those contracts would not be voided by the conclusion suggested here [that the present contract with Heath is ineffective]. Administrative action by the Director of Finance in those cases, as, for example, by ordering the printing of the books, would undoubtedly constitute an informal approval sufficient to sustain contracts for textbooks other than the one involved in this case."
­FN 12. See Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1879, vol. 2, pp. 693, 1107-1108; vol. 3, pp. 1475, 1522.
­FN 13. Education Code, section 11151: "The State Board of Education shall adopt one or more basic textbooks in each of the subjects prescribed for the elementary schools by Section 10302 of this code, except in art and in morals and manners. The board may adopt a single textbook covering two or more of these subjects. The board may adopt other textbooks, supplementary textbooks, and teachers' manuals for use in the elementary schools. The board may adopt teachers' manuals for use in the kindergarten schools. The board shall determine the grade or grades for which each basic textbook, other textbook, supplementary textbooks, and teachers' manual is adopted.
Date:Citation:Category:Status:	Thu, 07/02/195952 Cal.2d 441Review - Criminal AppealOpinion issued	Parties
1THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Petitioner, v. BERT W. LEVIT, as Director of Finance (Respondent)2THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (Petitioner)3BERT W. LEVIT, as Director of Finance (Respondent) Disposition
Jul 2 1959Writ Issued	Cite This Case
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